Hottest Restaurant in Scripps Ranch is At the High School

Preparing and serving dinner.

The hottest new restaurant in Scripps Ranch might just be at the high school.

Imagine a dinner that starts off with a rainbow salad with grilled shrimp, followed by a flat iron steak with sweet potato gnocci. Dessert is a strawberry Napoleon. Live music from a top local orchestra plays during the evening. Patrons can even watch their food being prepared and talk with the chefs in the open kitchen.

It might sound too good to be true, but it happens every month in the Culinary Arts room at Scripps Ranch High School. There, Chef Kim Coelho has her students practice in front of real customers... their teachers and parents.

"I can't cook to save my life, but these kids sure can," said Principal Ann Menna."They are incredible chefs."

Chef Coelho says the dinners put the students under real-life pressure.

 "Many of the students involved in the monthly dinners have been in the program for more than one semester and participate in culinary competitions throughout Southern California," she said.

The Culinary Arts and Management course at Scripps Ranch High School is a Regional Occupational Program (ROP) class. Students can earn college credit while taking the course. The dinners are held in the school's culinary arts facility and are $15 per person. The next dinner is scheduled for Feb. 23.

For more information, contact Coelho at 858-621-9020, ext. 4506