On the fourth floor of Burke Hall, right by the elevators, there’s a pair of double doors. Behind this set of tan, wooden entryways, lies a quiet room filled with tables set up to resemble a restaurant. Once inside the room, round the corner to a set of double swinging doors with “in” and “out” printed.
Behind this second set of swinging doors is a kitchen with whirring fans, stainless steel appliances, a dish pit and prep space. In this kitchen, music plays while Tim Shaw, better known by his students and peers as Chef Tim, is prepping with his Chef De Partie, or Sous Chef, Kevin Wen for Thursday’s day of service in The Vista Room.
The Vista Room is a sit-down restaurant on campus that is run almost completely by students. The students serve, prep and cook the food with little to no help. With the help of Chef Tim and other faculty members, The Vista Room is not only a place to hone in on culinary skills, but also a second home for some.
Wen was always fond of the kitchen. Whether it be the knives, cooking or the kitchen itself, Wen loved it. He grew up watching shows like “Master Chef” and “Hell’s Kitchen,” and was so inspired by these shows that he applied to be on “Master Chef,” but was rejected because he was not yet 21 at the time.
“Vista Room basically allows me to have that time and place where I can just experiment, try out what works and what doesn’t,” Wen said. “It’s basically like my secondary home.”
Wen first started cooking when he was in the third grade. He didn’t come into college as a Hospitality & Tourism Management major, but as a business major. After switching his focus of study and taking required classes, he landed in the course HTM 301, which introduced him to Chef Tim.
When asked about his relationship with Wen, Chef Tim let out a boisterous laugh. Wen was one of Tim’s students when school came back in session after COVID-19 closed campus.
“Everybody was nervous back then, and no one knew how it was going to go or if we were going to stay open,” Chef Tim said. “It’s always interesting every semester, because you have some students who are there obviously because it’s checking off a box on their transcript, or something, but some students come in with curiosity and stuff. [Wen] just came in and was like, ‘let’s try this, let’s try this, let’s try this.’”
Chef Tim didn’t start out wanting to cook. Instead, he started out as an archeology major. On a trip to Greece for archaeology, he discovered it was a little bit dull for his taste, and he fell in love with the food there.
“I randomly took a restaurant job when I came back from Greece and just loved everything about restaurant work,” Chef Tim said. “I loved that it was working at night. I loved that it was tips, you know, I even loved working in the dishroom. It was just fun, exciting. The idea of sitting in front of a computer from nine-to-five, I would rather chew glass than do that.”
Colin Johnson is the professor who teaches the class that runs The Vista Room. His role is both hands on, but at a distance to allow students to learn the lay of the land.
“I will not give the supervisor all the instructions, but I will give the supervisor the information,” Johnson said. “And then it’s up to that team leader, the supervisor then to work [it] out.”
Johnson has been in the culinary world for years. Originally from Manchester, England, Johnson has been a professor at seven different colleges between the U.K., Switzerland and the U.S.
“Every semester is different because of the different mix of the students, but generally, I would say the students we have in The Vista Room, they’re very good, they’re willing to learn, they are hardworking, they show initiative,” Johnson said. “ They have a certain knowledge by the end of it.”
Chef Tim works closely with Johnson and Amilcar Castillo-Ortiz, better known as Chef Amil. Chef Amil is an adjunct professor who teaches HTM 301 Food Science and Production. He has also worked in The Vista Room in the past, and his students funnel into The Vista Room production.
“What I really love about [it] is students having the opportunity to understand the process of food making and the process of handling food safely,” Chef Amil said.
Chef Amil’s focus is to teach the science behind the food preparation and how to do it safely. The two chefs work together to create standardized menus for their classes, and actually make the meals themselves before teaching it to their students.
Chef Amil has been in the industry for over 30 years. He graduated from SF State with his bachelor’s degree and has been teaching for about 10 years now. Growing up in El Salvador, Chef Amil first learned his appreciation for food out of necessity.
“I grew up in an agricultural family, producing our own food, making cheese, producing our own vegetables,” Chef Amil said. “I will say at least 60% of the food we produce was used within my family.”
Students from previous semesters on staff at The Vista Room look back on their time fondly. Robert Boardman, a close friend of Wen’s and a recent graduate from SF State, was a sous chef in The Vista Room. According to Boardman, Chef Amil asked him if he would want to work in The Vista Room the following semester.
“It was really fun,” Boardman said. “I thought it was a really good experience.”
Now graduated, Boardman works in a restaurant in Hollywood cooking up Mediterranean and Lebanese food.
Another one of Wen’s close friends is Madeline Chea, who worked in The Vista Room alongside Wen.
“I wanted to join The Vista Room staff because it felt like home,” Chea said in an email. “I established a mentorship with Chef Tim and would assist him in cleaning up the kitchen after class. After that, I did the same with private events and other professors that had classes in the room. It was a great way to give back to the space I use.”
Chea has always been on the consumer side of the restaurant world. Since being on staff at The Vista Room, Chea has completed the Wine Spirits Education Trust (WSET) program at level two, which indicates her knowledge in wine production, varieties and more.
“I have worked under Chef Tim. He loves to play music and make joke[s]. If something serious happens, he will handle it with urgency,” Chea said in an email.
Working in The Vista Room with Chef Tim, Wen has been able to learn new things about the culinary world that he may not have before.
“Every memory, any learning experience I get, even being scolded by them, I would say is a great memory, because as teachers, they always have something to teach me,” Wen said. “I’ve never stopped learning from them, regardless of what the topic is.”
