EIGHTY young culinary students being trained under the wooden spoon of chef Terry Green in the modern kitchens at the Western School of Technology and Environmental Science in Catonsville have cooked their way to the White House.
Green, the Maryland Culinary Association's Chef of the Year, and his students were invited to prepare morning coffee and refreshments for an Environmental Business Summit at the White House Conference Center May 7.
In the middle of preparations, Green was surprised to get a fax requesting that he also prepare food for a midmorning coffee break.
Then a second fax came that almost blew the chef's toque off: In addition to everything else, conference leaders wanted food for an afternoon reception and resource fair.
"I'm very fortunate," Green said. "I approached my students, and they said they would do whatever had to be done.
"We began working at 7: 30 a.m. Tuesday morning and didn't finish until about 3 a.m. Wednesday. We took a nap here at school and at 4 a.m. started loading trucks. We left here at 5: 30 a.m. in a caravan of three borrowed trucks."
The students who arrived at the conference center, just across the street from the White House next to Lafayette Park, were Barry Cook, Matt Dillion, Jesse Ewen, Mark Guess, Jennifer Martin, Krystin Medicus and Heather Smith.
Before they could set up, the eager group had to wait while a security guard with a hand-held detector and a search dog inspected the food and equipment.
Because the second half of the summit was to be held in the Old Executive Office Building, next door to the White House, all of the food for that event was loaded into one truck.
"When we moved the truck that afternoon, it took over an hour to get inside the executive office building," says Green. "The sodas, even the ice, were all X-rayed. The funny thing was that they checked all the food but ignored our toolboxes filled with knives."
The Marylanders served 40 people in the morning and 60 in the afternoon.
"Some of the White House kitchen staff came over and talked to my students," their teacher said. "They were all naval personnel, who explained that the Navy is in charge of feeding the president, both at home and everywhere he goes."
A graduate of Severn School and Towson State University, Green left the restaurant business 10 years ago to become a teacher because he loves to work with young cooks.
Green, who helped establish a culinary apprentice program at Anne Arundel Community College, teaches the college students at night.
The first culinary class will graduate from AACC this spring.
The Western School students have been invited back to the White House for a private tour and photo session.
"They can hardly wait," Green said.
Pub Date: 5/15/97
