QO Culinary Students Visit Not Your Average Joe’s (Photos)

Chefs from Not Your Average Joe’s restaurant in Gaithersburg spent the day mentoring students from the Quince Orchard High School culinary arts program, Founder and President Steve Silverstein announced today. The students are representatives of the school’s culinary arts competition team and the food they prepared was delivered to the Wells Robertson House, a halfway house located in Gaithersburg.

“Quince Orchard is our restaurant’s local high school, and when we learned about their excitement for cooking, we wanted them to join us and learn from our professional staff. They’re a great group of young people and their enthusiasm reflects ours for serving the public,” said Silverstein. “We were also humbled that Mayor Sidney Katz of Gaithersburg joined us to applaud the students and Not Your Average Joe’s with a proclamation recognizing the event.”

Erik Larson, General Manager at Not Your Average Joe’s said, “We’re proud of our professional staff and we’re so pleased that these great students could join us. We also take a lot of pride in giving back to the community, so when the young people agreed to help us provide some much needed meals for the Wells Robertson House, we knew we would all have some fun and do some good at the same time.”

Scott Martin, head chef at Not Your Average Joe’s, said, “My team here, Jose de la Paz, Ray Jackson, William Lizama, Chris Lopez, Courtney Braxton, and Chris Asher, are all true professional and proud of what they do. We’re so pleased to pass on our knowledge and experience, and the enthusiasm for the made from scratch menu we create for our guests.”

Katz, after making a presentation of the proclamation and, with Erik Larson, special recognition certificates to the students, said: “Community involvement is a way of life in Gaithersburg. I wouldn’t have missed this event, which shows how all of us, Not Your Average Joe’s, the dedicated educators from Quince Orchard High School, and these wonderfully energetic students, can combine to help each other, and our neighbors.”

Concluded Silverstein, “This is a time of year when we all reflect on how fortunate we all are. We feel particularly fortunate to be part of the Kentlands community. We’re glad to have the opportunity to serve our friends.“