Last Wednesday was our famous Italian Restaurant night at the Monhegan School. We were looking forward to the evening for months. The kids had been after me to do a restaurant night since I started teaching on Monhegan, but I just could never muster up the energy to plan, organize, and execute such an event. That is when the FABULOUS Kathie Iannicelli comes in. She called me in early winter saying she would be willing to orchestrate such an event and once she offered I didn't let her get out of it! And thank goodness, because Italian night was a HUGE success.
The kids were responsible for everything. They had to figure out what supplies we needed, how much to charge to cover our expenses, assign roles, make up the menus and schedules, and work the entire event. When Wednesday came we all got right down to business...
The Middle Schoolers were first put in charge of making the pizza dough. I love how responsible and on task these two boys can be.
The fourth graders were put under "Muffy supervision" and were charged with bread making responsibility!
Maya was on floor clean up duty, as usual!
Arlo was ALL over that bread!
Buttering and garlic-ing the bread!
Chopping veggies for the pizzas!
The makings for our chocolate chip batch!
Quinny lends a hand... cookie stirring takes a lot of strength!
Making cookie plates for each of the tables!
Time to set up... making floral arrangements for the tables.
We borrowed silverware and table clothes from the Trailing Yew, candles from the teachers' house, and lots of chairs from the shed! We set up for thirty people and got a FULL house!
The kids designed place mats with Italian themes and on the flip side was a Monhegan School trivia quiz!
The kids named the restaurant "Pizza Alla Mare" which means "Pizza by the Sea."
Quinny was the greeter. His speech was something of the following, "Hello, welcome to Pizza Alla Mare. May I seat you?" The best part is he had to keep looking at the sign because he kept forgetting what the restaurant was called. Too flippin' cute.
Awesome last minute touches! I am telling you this was some fine dining!
Our drink order waiter! We had a choice of water or freshly brewed iced tea!
Dalton made the welcome speech and gave directions about the trivia game that would be happening after dinner! He was quite the professional!
And then came the food!
Did I mention the teacher (that's me!) did not have to work at the restaurant! I was a paying customer that evening and I loved EVERY second of it! Even though I think I was more nervous then the kids... as usual!
Above in my delicious meal... the kids made four different kinds of pizza and a scrumtious salad and homemade bread sticks!!!
You would think the staff could have done something about the forward dog who kept nudging me under the table. My word!
Kitchen pow-wow. Have I said how amazing Kathie was orchestrating this entire event!?! SHE WAS AMAZING!
Then it was trivia time. There were 10 questions about the Monhegan School that we asked the community. The kids wrote the questions and most of the answers could be found right here on the Monhegan School blog... there was only one person who got all the questions right...
Yep, little miss smarty pants Pamela! And NO... I did not give her ANY of the answers.
Then it was time for dessert and bills! The kids made up bills for the customers and asked them to rate the food, service, and ambiance... we have some room for improvement but over all I think they were terrific!
Billy B. tried to get a discount with his AARP card. Classic.
Counting up the funds! We raised over one-hundred dollars for kickball t-shirts! I call that a success!
Thanks to everyone who made Italian Night a huge success... Chinese night in April? What do you think?
