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Greene County students ready for annual Christmas buffet

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Greene County students will be spreading Christmas cheer with several savory dishes across a long buffet table.

Foodies can expect German and southern flavors at the Greene County Career and Technology Center’s annual Christmas buffet, which begins at 11:30 a.m. Friday.

Executive Chef Oliver Beckert from Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., will be working with the students again this year.

“For me, it’s an extreme honor for him to take the time, especially during this time of year, to come up and work with the kids,” said Dan Wagner, director of the culinary arts program at the GCCTC. “He’s extremely busy right now.”

Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter

Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter

Students with the Greene County Career and Technical Center work on assembling chocolate truffles for the annual Christmas buffet Friday.

Beckert worked with the students at last year’s buffet and in January 2017, when the students did a group internship at the hotel the week of President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The students recently went back to the Washington hotel in September to work with Beckert during several “big events” at the hotel, Wagner said.

“He said ‘I’d like to continue working with you,’ and that he would look for education opportunities for the kids to participate in down there,” Wagner said.

On Thursday and Friday, they’ll get to work with him again, cooking multiple German dishes to serve, like salmon and sweet potato cakes and potato and horseradish soup. Jeff Cecil a chef with Sullivan University, will also work with the students again this year, and plans to prepare several southern dishes, like grits and Kentucky hot brown.

The students started preparing some food in advance, like melt-in-your-mouth chocolate truffles. There will also be several salads, vegetables and more options than will fit on one plate.

The Greene County Career and Technical Center’s annual Christmas buffet is Friday.

Wagner said both guest chefs are great at working with the students and instructing them with the meal preparation.

“They get nervous at first, but Beckert breaks the ice with them,” he said. “His demeanor is calm and relaxed.”

This year the buffet will open from 11 to 11:30 a.m. Friday for members of the Greene County Chamber of Commerce, so the business community can enjoy a lunch and get back to work before the rush. Those seats can be reserved through the GCCTC by calling 724-627-3106.

Every year, salivating crowds with growling tummies line up for the buffet. Wagner said it’s become a large community event in which friends, family and neighbors, who haven’t seen each other in a while, get to catch up over a $12 gourmet meal. The buffet will be open to the public from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

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