Livonia: Schoolcraft College’s American Harvest Restaurant

For those of you who follow us, you know we are huge fans of Schoolcraft College’s culinary program. Over the past 40 years, since I attended there, has undergone some major transformations. When I went there, in the early 80’s, the culinary program was the school’s cafeteria. The American Harvest restaurant was a little room off the side of the cafeteria, with no windows, and seated maybe 30 or 40 people. We had some great instructors, but nothing compared to today’s line up of Executive and Master Chefs teaching today’s students.

In 2003 they opened the Vista Tech Center, which would become the new home of the culinary arts department and their highly regarded American Harvest restaurant. Another part of the Vista Tech Center is the Brewing and Distillation program. It is a 24 credit hour program, teaching the science of beer, brewhouse, marketing and packaging. Over the past 22 years they have kept growing and between 2022 and 2023 they expanded even further with a multi-million dollar expansion. They increased the size of the American Harvest Restaurant, opened the new Craft Grill serving the beers that are made by the brewing class, and Main Street Café. They also added a new state of the art instructional kitchen where they hold a lot of adult ed classes teaching the basic techniques of cooking.

Our main focus is The American Harvest Restaurant. This is a full service, gourmet restaurant, that is open to the general public . . . but you do need reservations to get a table. The restaurant, unlike the Craft Grill, is only open when school is in session. They offer lunch Wednesday – Friday with seating ranging from 11:45 to 12:30. They offer an a la carte lunch menu that changes daily, offering freshly baked breads, gourmet soups, delicious salads, creative entrees, and an extensive selection of tempting desserts. Prices typically hover around $25-$30 per person.

On Wednesday and Thursday evenings they offer their International Dinner Buffet for $38.95 per person.There are 5 different themes that change weekly.

Central European (France, Germany, Poland, Switzerland)
European Mediterranean (Italy, Spain, Provence)
Eastern Mediterranean (Greece, North Africa, Middle East)
Caribbean (Mexico, Latin America, South America)
Asian (Japan, N Korea, S Korea, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines)

People are always asking how they can get reservations for the international dinners. There is a secret to it. To start, as of the time of this blog, there are only 8 international dinners left before the end of the winter semester. March 12th and 13th, March 27th, April 2nd and 3rd, April 9th and 10th and April 16th. To get a reservation for up to 5 people you need to go to

https://www.opentable.com/american-harvest-restaurant

31 days before the date you are hoping to get (ex March 13th reservations opened up Feb 10th at midnight) For larger parties you can call 734-462-4488. Reservations are limited and do sell out quickly. While the restaurant seats a good amount they limit the number of reservations to 50-60 per dinner.

This is a teaching class and since the servers and cooks are all students, they limit the guests so they don’t overwhelm them. All the food is prepared under the watchful eye of Certified Master Chef Brian Beland, who is also the Culinary Arts Department Chair. You may ask “what is a master chef?” Well simply put, it is a chef that has reached the highest level of expertise in the culinary arts. It is such a prestigious designation that as of 2024 there were only a little over 70 Master Chefs in the world. Right now Schoolcraft College has 3 Master Chefs and a Master Baker on their Culinary Staff.

We try to get to at least 1 of each of the themed dinners per semester, going every 2 to 3 weeks. We have taken many guests who all have the same “WOW” reaction! Most people are not even aware that it even existed prior to us taking them. Here is what you can expect when attending one of the international dinners. This is based on the last one we attended, on February 20th, which happened to be European Mediterranean night, featuring dishes from Italy, Spain and the Provenance of France.

Remember this is a buffet . . . so it is all you can eat. So don’t be shy.

Let’s start with Soups, Salads and other Starters:

Zuppa di Zucchine Spinaci, Fagioli e Patate (White Bean, Zucchini, Spinach and Potato Soup)

Spanish Lentil & Chorizo Soup

Tossed Green salad

Butternut Squash Panzanella

Parma Ham, Apple & Celeriac salad

Tortilla Espanola (Spanish Potato Omelet)

Caprese Salad

Green Bean Salad

For Entrees:

Eggplant Parmesan

Brick Roasted Chicken with Tuscan Dressing

Grilled Swordfish Peperonata with Bean Ragout

Seared Bass & Green Olive Dressing & Roasted Potatoes & Saffron Aioli & Catalan Greens

Pork Osso Buco Milanese Tomato Braised Pork Shank, Saffron Risotto and Sauteed Broccolini

Grilled Rack of Lamb with Rosemary Polenta and Eggplant Caponata,

Albondigas (Spanish Meatballs in Romesco Sauce)

Mejillones al Estolo de Laredo (Mussels with Olives)

Bunuelos de Bacalano (Salt Cod & Potato Fritters)

Paella

Gnocchi alla Spezzatino di Anitra (Gnocci with Duck Stew)

And Finally the wide variety of spectacular desserts:

We usually get one of everything and share with each other. They are not big, usually bite size, but really rich and delicious. This meal had 10 different choices.