The Current Online

by Mary McKeown   

Johnny C makes diners at home on the first visit (Mary McKeown/The Current).

Options for lunch in the MCC-Business and Technology area are few and far between. McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Subway and Taco Bell – safe, predictable options. But what if you want as much from life as you want from your education?           

• By far, the best bet in the BTC area is Johnny C’s Deli & Pasta (7012 Universal Avenue‎), hiding from the Front Street traffic in an office park on Universal Ave., right behind McDonald’s. Johnny usually works the register and is the quintessential host: he is friendly and helpful and treats you like a regular, even on your first visit. [...]

by Brittany Boyd       

(Marcus Sunde/The Current)

With spring almost in full bloom and summer and a break from school around the bend, Kansas City and surrounding areas have opened up new doors to these fresh cafes and restaurants.      

by Adam Conder

The first thing to be noticed when walking through the doors of Doozens is the strong aroma of coffee beans. Doozens was founded in 2007 by Susan Van Duesen, mother of five. She prides herself on the welcoming, family-like atmosphere that her coffee shop produces. [...]

New LV cafe manager focuses on healthy foods

by Jordan Lee and by Edith Erickson

Monotony’s not on the menu this year. A new manager and staff have taken over at the Longview Café with hopes to add some variety to students’ meals. The Café welcomed new manager Linda Harp, as former manager Kristin Parvin headed to the Independence School District after spending five years at Longview.
Parvin reflected on her time at Longview saying, “It’s been a wonderful ride, I will miss everything. But I will take it all in my heart.”
Harp is bringing a lot of experience with her as well as a passion for helping students. Since she has two daughters in college, she understands the need for healthy food options as well as the need for an affordable lunch.
Although she may be new to Longview, she definitely is not new to the food industry. Her background consists of 15 years in the business compiled of owning her own restaurant and catering businesses, managing local franchise restaurants, and spending the last five years working for Treat America at Powell Gardens. Harp remains as manager of Café Thyme at Powell Gardens and continues to work there on weekends as well as during major events.
With all of this background, she is excited to introduce some of her old recipes to our Lakeside Café. For starters, Harp wants to integrate more healthy food options.
Harp said, “Healthy conscious is something I focused on at my previous restaurant, and this is something I want to work on here…We’re trying to make these items quick and easy.” She also wants to have more fruit and cheese plates available.
For those concerned with healthy eating, Harp described some food options: “There are weight watchers, and the wraps are low in carbs and fat. The meats are low fat and the dressings are low fat. The onions, tomatoes, and cucumbers at the salad bar are locally grown.”
To help students with a tight budget, there is a special each day for 99 cents. In addition to the current features, Harp added a new item starting this week, listed as “Healthy Choice.” They are offering a different readymade salad every day.
She knows that a lot of students are crammed with classes during lunchtime and scarcely have any time to eat. The cafeteria has a “grab-and-go cooler” which is located just inside the cafeteria door. This contains sandwiches and other quick food options.
In addition, Harp is hoping to change up the menu on select Fridays by creating action stations where dishes can be created and prepared right in front of students. With the introduction of some variety she anticipates feeding up to 500 people during lunchtime hours later on in the semester.
Harp looks forward to the challenging job of feeding hungry people while adding variety into the menu, “The toughest part is food ideas that appeal to the age group,” she said.
Managing the Lakeside Café is more than just a job for Harp. She has a heart to help the students and meet their needs. Harp is looking for feedback from customers via email and is considering the possibility of comment cards for convenience. Currently, she is exploring options for being able to e-mail the student body the menu of the week as well as the possibility of using Blackboard to post the menu and the prices.
Harp said, “I would like input from students so I can provide what the students want.” Feel free to drop Harp a line at Linda.harp@mcckc.edu.
Of all the changes, the one constant that remains the same is Arline Arel who has been on register for the past three years and cooked another 21 years here previously. After spending over two decades at Longview, Arel has known plenty of students through daily conversations, providing help, or just giving a smile to brighten their day.
Getting to know students has always been her priority and after years of personal relationships, students begin to feel like family as Arel refers to students as “her kids.” This is all common to her as she is a mother of five, a grandmother of nine, and a great-grandmother of five.
Other faces that you may not recognize on the Café staff are new additions Tami Trasper and Kelly Hall. Both are new to Longview this semester but are used to the environment as both are mothers who have taken care of children of their own. Trasper was asked to come to Longview personally as she had worked with Harp catering at Powell Gardens. After being a dental assistant for 10 years, Tami prefers being here and getting to know hundreds of faces much better. In addition to working at a dance studio and Arrowhead on game days, Hall sees this as an opportunity to interact with a variety of new people.
Before Parvin departed, she made sure she left in style as she prepared 700 burgers for the hungry crowd that gathered at the school’s resource fair, Aug. 27.
She said, “I’ll miss the people here. They are outstanding; this was my home away from home.” She spent plenty of early hours and late nights preparing menus and making sure all nutritional needs were met.