Students Bring <i> Class </i> to San Pedro’s Cafe Classique : Education: The Los Angeles school district’s first off-campus business is a hit with customers and a training ground for employees.

What used to be Cafe Chocolate in downtown San Pedro is now the student-operated Cafe Classique, the Los Angeles Unified School District’s first off-campus business.

Hidden behind an alley in a corner of the newly renovated Arcade building, the new cafe has drawn patrons ranging from senior citizens lunching before exercise class to local residents taking a break from shopping.

Students prepare and serve the food at the cafe, whose fare includes croissant sandwiches, salads with homemade yogurt dressing and desserts.

“It’s good food,” said San Pedro resident Debra Schmid, 33. “The food is fresh, it’s good quality. The service is fast and efficient.”

The restaurant is run through the San Pedro/Wilmington Skills Center, a vocational school in the district. The cafe is staffed primarily by students--high school youths and adults seeking job training--who earn class credit toward food service certificates. The students also divide tips among themselves at the end of each shift.

The 50 students in the program also run a catering service for local organizations and businesses.

Students must complete three-fourths of their training programs, pass required health examinations and have the recommendation of an instructor before being able to work at the cafe, said Joan Keith, principal of the Skills Center, who oversees the cafe.

The idea for the restaurant, at 479 W. 6th St., came up in mid-July when Cafe Chocolate closed. Gary Larson, president of San Pedro Bay Co. and owner of the building, made what Keith said was an incredible offer, and on Sept. 3, Cafe Classique opened for business.

“I wanted to create a nice ambience for the San Pedro area,” said Larson, who offered the cafe discounted rent but would not disclose the rate. “It’s a big draw for the other tenants and creates foot traffic for the retailers.”

Several financial and law offices are housed in the Arcade, along with a gift shop and a wedding boutique.

The cafe, in a corner of the building’s lobby, has black-and-white tile floors and tiny marble tables that seat three people each. Menu items arrive on paper plates, and the food is arranged atop lettuce leaves.

The walls of Cafe Classique are decorated with works donated by local artists, and the restaurant is filled with the smell of freshly baked bread.

The cafe is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Prices range from $1.50 for pastries to $4.95 for salads. The restaurant is busiest at lunchtime.

“The prices are right and the food is delicious,” said Mary Noah, 50, an employee at the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce. “I received a certificate from the Skills Center last year which enabled me to get my job, so I really appreciate (the students’) efforts.”

The start-up costs for the cafe have been minimal because most of the equipment was donated by the business community. The Hussman Co. provided a $10,000 commercial refrigerator, PBI donated the electronic scale, bakery case and floor tiles, and Lucky Supermarkets supplied more than $100,000 worth of kitchen equipment.

Keith says the low start-up costs help keep the cafe’s prices reasonable, and all its receipts are returned to the Skills Center’s food service and baking programs. The cafe is within $15 of its daily sales projection, Keith says, and business keeps getting better. He would not say how much money the cafe takes in.

If Cafe Classique is successful, it could lead to other off-campus commercial ventures, said district Assistant Supt. James Figueroa.

The cafe is supervised by a paid manager, Vicki Zaldivar, a 23-year-old teacher’s assistant. The restaurant seats 12 people inside and about 20 at tables in the lobby.

In the beginning, Zaldivar said, some students were intimidated by the business clientele, but they learned how to deal with them. She said students develop a work ethic in the program and learn how to make a plate look attractive and how to please the customers.

“The best thing about working here is the (customers),” said cafe intern Linda Martinez, 18. “Most of them I know by name, and I know what they like and how they like it.”