MORGANTOWN — Isaiah Westfall was enjoying himself Tuesday morning as he pointed out the features of a kitchen under construction.
“Well, yeah, I put down the flooring here,” he said.
“And a lot of us did the cabinetry. Can’t wait to see it when it’s all done.”
If the student at the Monongalia County Technical Education Center was sounding like a proud homeowner — well, that’s because he is one, in effect.
And so are several of his MTEC classmates.
For the past month, students from across disciplines at the center on Mississippi Street have been working on a rolling barbecue joint designed to showcase community technical education — while serving up some tasty fare at the same time.
“Country Roads Blazin’ BBQ,” is the name of the enterprise that Chef Brian Covell says will deliver a perfect menu of what makes MTEC famous.
Covell, a former restaurant owner who teaches culinary classes at the center, applied for a special grant geared to such encompassing projects.
Of course, there’s the barbecue, the regionally recognized chef said. But for now, there’s the work.
There are the carpentry students building the structure of what was a bare-bones trailer, consisting of four wheels attached to a frame.
Add in the welding students and electricians-in-training, he said.
Don’t forget the soon-to-be plumbers and those learning the intricacies of heating, ventilation and cooling work, either.
Or the graphic design students who created logos of all of MTEC’s programs and partners adorning the outside of the trailer.
The chef was also sounding proud, as he showed off the stainless steel grill, sink and other fixtures inside.
“Our welding kids did the hood for the oven and all this,” he said, gesturing around the mobile kitchen.
“All this,” meaning features worthy of any cooking show on cable.
A Vulcan brand deep fryer.
A Pit Boss wood pellet smoker.
A restaurant-style prep counter and commercial grease trap.
Cameron Haverfield and Nathan Ramsey both served up grins as they surveyed the work.
That’s because the HVAC students were glad their days of shimmying under the trailer were done.
They ran 40 feet of piping to provide air conditioning in the spring and summer and heating in the fall and winter — to ensure the rig can hit the road and keep the barbecue on plates, no matter what page the calendar is turned to.
“That’s a really tight, enclosed area,” Haverfield said.
“We encased everything in fence tubing,” Ramsey added. “So you don’t have to worry about road hazards.”
Greg Dausch, who is MTEC’s principal, called that move ingenious.
“If you scrape bottom and knock a hose or a tube loose, you’re not gonna know until you know,” he said.
What he knows now is that the project is making for true, teachable moments at METC, he said.
“We’ve been compartmentalized in the past in this building,” he said. “This is a chance for all our instructors and classes to get together on something that will really be good for the school.”
Covell sees the trailer making stops at schools in Mon and maybe at a regional festival or two. The menu includes locally sourced foods and environmentally friendly packaging, he said.
“We’ll be our own form of guerrilla marketing,” he said, with proceeds from every sale funneled to a fund MTEC uses to bankroll its students who compete in national competitions.
And the aforementioned barbecue? The one that could start being doled onto plates as early as next month?
Well, that’s the only rub. The chef doesn’t want to reveal the recipe.
He did allow that’s he’s been huddling with culinary students in past weeks — who have been working just as hard as the welders, plumbers and carpenters when rollout-time arrives.
“We’re gonna take something I’ve already done and add some seasonings, things like that,” he said, grinning.
“You’ll love it.”
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