Text and Photos
By Shari Benyousky
Guest Columnist

Column Note: This is the 10th column in the Dives and Diners series in which a small group of Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club members and their guests road trip to explore the diners and dives of Kosciusko and the surrounding area.

WARSAW — At first, the cloth napkins, multiple forks, and fancy red globes floating overhead flustered us. The Blue Apron is not exactly a diner or a dive.

In French cuisine, the color of an apron worn by the staff denotes their level of mastery. The Blue Apron chose its name because of its “student in training” approach. The students in the Culinary Arts Pathway at the Warsaw High School Career Center receive both high school and college credit while enrolled in the program. Under the tutelage of Chef Mark Bragg, they come out having a competitive edge while being proficient and well-rounded students.

A waiter brought us baskets of sculptured butter, tiny corn muffins, and herbed focaccia bread. “My butter looks like a little octopus,” I said, picking up a corn muffin.

“Brain coral maybe?” Attorney Tony Garza reached for another.

“No, baby cupcakes,” decided Funeral Planner Brittany Lyon.

“This room used to be the study hall room back in the day,” REMAX Jeff Owens commented, a little in awe of the transformation. “It’s just as full of laughing and talking these days as back then.” The Blue Apron tables were full of teachers, students, and business people in every age group and type of dress.

Our waiter Taten told us they had 40 plus diners today, but a usual day was more like 25. “It’s pretty crazy,” he told us rushing around and handling things like a boss. The high school students run everything in the Blue Apron. During their classes, they learn to run every station from waiters to cooks to desserts to salads to washing the dishes.

One of our wildcards, Sheriff Jim Smith, arrived in a hurry; he was double-booked for the day and had ordered his meal through the online app. His plate arrived first. “Look at these pub chips!” He offered samples all around the table. “I love pub chips, and these are amazing.”

Our other wildcard, WCHS Career Center Principal Ben Barkey, nodded. “Pub chips have crunch. They aren’t flimsy like those store chips.” Barkey got up to help around the restaurant. He was always up and down during the meal, helping to host and run and advise all at once. “I get 15,000 steps a day in the Career Center,” he told us taking bites of his Cuban sandwich between. “It’s easy to stay in shape. Sometimes I’m so busy I don’t have time to eat at all. We call that accidental fasting or my diet plan.”

“I hear you,” Sheriff Smith agreed. “I lost a lot of weight during the election.” We couldn’t help but look at him. He patted his stomach. “Oh, I found it again!” After we finished laughing, he added, “My first job was busboy at the pancake house, you know. And I worked at the original Richards and Lucky Steer too.”

“You liked it?” I asked.

“The first day I thought being a busboy was so easy.” Sheriff Smith leaned back in his chair. “I cleaned the first table and it only had water glasses and salt and pepper. The waitress was so mad. She had just seated the people at that table, and they’d gotten up to use the restroom or something. She called me over-zealous.”

We dug into our orders. I had an enormous bowl of soup full of chunks of ham and potato. Funeral Planner Brittany enjoyed the Tennessee hot Chicken salad. Attorney Garza ordered the Hoosier Tenderloin. Barkey returned often to answer our questions and make sure we had a fresh pot of coffee. “In our work-based learning here, we can take only 60 kids due to budget constraints. We had around 100 kids interview for the program, but there isn’t enough money.” He shook his head ruefully and gestured around. “I’d love to have 120 kids in here if we could find a way to fund it. Right now, we are cost-neutral.”

“Could it be community funded?” asked 1st Source Banker Paul Finley. “This is special, and the community really needs these kinds of skills.”

“Perhaps.” Barkey looked thoughtful. “I’d love to talk to anyone interested in pursuing that.”

As the crowd thinned, Barkey brought over various students and introduced them. “This is Argos.”
A dark-haired girl in jeans smiled wryly. “He calls me that because I moved from Argos. My name is really Emilie Ness.”

In honor of our 10th Diners and Dives trip, we asked Principal Barkey and Student Emilie “Argos” Ness to rank their top 10 foods at the Blue Apron. After much discussion and some disagreement, they came up with the following list:

1. The Cuban sandwich (both agreed this was the best “without a doubt”)

2. Chicken Parmesan

3. Crab Cakes

4. Chicken and Waffles

5. Prime Rib Sandwiches

6. Burger of the week

7. Chocolate Lasagna

8. Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake

9. Tenderloin Sandwich (“Some say this is the best one in the state”)

10. Crème Brulé

The Blue Apron rotates meals and specials, so there’s no guarantee you’ll find all these items on any given day. For example, next week, the last week the restaurant is open to the public before the end of the school year, students will learn how to cook and serve shrimp and oysters.

Chef Mark Bragg finally had a moment to come to the table and shake our hands. “Amazing food,” REMAX Jeff Owens complimented him.

“It was a busy day today,” Chef nodded proudly. “The students learn how to handle extreme pressure. That’s an important skill here.” He explained that the kids worked at the restaurant during their own lunch hours at the high school, so at the end of their shifts the Blue Apron provided Family Meal for them to grab before they headed back to class. Chef said, “Today I told them, ‘Nice work, guys. I haven’t seen a single crier all day. One girl raised her hand and said, ‘I cried’, and we all laughed together.”

“This is amazing, Chef. But what’s the biggest catastrophe you’ve ever experienced?” Attorney Garza leaned on the table.

“Well,” Chef Bragg considered. “Generally, I teach them that there are no problems, only unique opportunities for new solutions. But not long ago I came in to find a broken cooler with all our food spoiled. That certainly presented some challenges. Off we went to shop, and we opened the restaurant just fine.”

Chef and Principal Barkey offered to show us behind the scenes to the professional kitchen. “Pardon the mess. But we get through the rush and now the kids will clean everything sparkling.”

We met Talia, the senior who runs the restaurant. We met Heidi washing the dishes with a huge smile. Our waiter Taten showed us Family Table piled high with meatloaf, oven fries, and an assortment of cupcakes. Various students rushed in and out as we watched.

We ended our meal with a plate full of desserts — do not miss the desserts. The Blue Apron isn’t a diner or a dive, but it’s absolutely worth your time to check out, both to satisfy your stomach, and to support our local public high school which is doing a spectacular job providing skills to awesome students. Cheers.

TIP –The door to the Blue Apron is just east of the Career Center door on the north side of WCHS.

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