Student-run restaurant and salon reopen for the public at Plymouth South High School

PLYMOUTH – Flat breads and coiffed heads are back on the menu in the technical studies program at Plymouth South High School.

For the first time in more than a year, the school’s culinary arts and cosmetology programs have opened the doors of their restaurant and hair salon to customers from the general public. The return was much anticipated and appreciated on both sides.

Marianne Duseau and Jeanne McMahon were the first in line for lunch at the Southside Fare, the student-run restaurant at the school. Will Duseau, a senior in the culinary arts program, and Marianne son’s and Jeanne’s grandson, took their orders.

Both started with the harvest bisque, a puree of fall ingredients that, back in the kitchen, Will garnished with maple sour cream under the guidance of Chef Kyle Dunlea, one of the four instructors in the culinary arts program.

Marianne ordered the Turkey Cobb Salad and Jeanne tried the Crispy Chicken Wrap for their first day back in the restaurant, but expected to work their way through the entire menu as the year progresses.

“It’s delicious. We were so happy when William gave us the green light to come back. We were just talking about who else to bring with us next time,” Marianne Duseau said.

The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education actually cleared the way for the technical studies programs to reopen its shops for paying customers.

The culinary program shut down at the start of the pandemic and could only serve take-out meals at most during last year’s hybrid learning adventure.

With the return to full, in-person learning this year, customers can visit the restaurant dining room just off the school’s main lobby. “It’s just like any other restaurant. We’re all masked and thankful to be open again,” Susan Martin, who heads up the culinary arts program, said.

Martin said the return of paying customers in an actual restaurant setting makes an enormous difference for students, who rotate through hot and cold cooking lines, bakery and front-end assignments over the course of the school year.

Students get to experience what’s involved in plating up meals and interacting with customers on a personal level. Savvy customers can make their visit a two-fer – combining a meal in the restaurant or grabbing take-out for dinner with hairstyling or a manicure in the cosmetology department.

The cosmetology program opened its doors to customers from the general public on Tuesday as well. Last year, students were only allowed to work on members of their inner family circle or other classmates and that only happened toward the end of the school year.

Sue Brown, a retired postal worker from Sagamore Beach, has been a loyal customer for seven years.

Brown was the last person to get an appointment at the student salon before schools closed for in-person learning in March 2020. She was the first customer in the doors Tuesday morning, sitting down for a color retouch.

Senior Ava Zeoli applied the touch up under the tutelage of Kelly Medina, the cosmetology department head.

“They take good care of me,” Brown said of the student hairdressers. “The teachers supervise the entire process. It’s very smooth.”

Medina said it is Brown and the shop’s other customers who take care of the students, noting that the hands-on experience is critical to the students’ educations and helps them earn the 1,000 hours of training needed to take state cosmetology licensing exams.

“We try to ease students into it,” Medina said, explaining that younger students work on mannequins or one another before working with a customer. “There’s never a rush. Things take more time, but the work is all done by students and it’s quality work,” Medina said.

The cosmetology program provides all the service of a full-service salon, including haircuts, coloring, permanents, keratin treatments, chemical treatments and even manicures.

The salon is generally open two days a week during school hours. Customers from the general public are asked to call 508-224-5054 to make appointments.

Southside Fare features hot and cold offerings with daily specials.

This week’s lighter fare included harvest bisque, roasted butternut squash and goat cheese flatbread, Caesar salad and chicken fingers with fries. Diners could also choose between a lemon-pepper tuna sandwich and the crispy chicken wrap.

This week’s specials were a roast beef Panini, turkey Cobb salad or herb-roasted Statler chicken. Prices range from $2.50 for a cup of soup to $8 for the Statler chicken special. In addition, culinary arts students rotating through the bakery program make fresh desserts daily.

The culinary arts program reserves Mondays for lectures, but the restaurant is generally open for business Tuesdays through Fridays. The doors open at 10:45 a.m. The last seating is at 12:20.

Customers are asked to call 508-224-7512, ext. 1035, to make reservations to ensure the restaurant is open on any particular day, as special events at school can sometimes take precedence.