Serving a variety of food from the sweet crepes to the 544 burger, located inside Wylie High School, opened to the public Oct. 5.

The 544 Cafe serves as real life experience for culinary students at both Wylie High School and Wylie East High School.

“I love it to death really. It’s like an internship for us so I really love it,” senior Haymant Badai said.

Students within the practicum of culinary arts program work to fine tune their skills by gaining real world business experience and showing off their passion for food and the culinary arts. The young chefs use modern cookware and appliances to put to use their skills and what they’ve learned in the classroom in the back and is exactly what they use in the kitchen in the front.

“There is no ‘tryout’ to be in the practicum program, just a desire to be in the program, a passion for food, and having been in and passed Principles of Hospitality and Tourism, Lifetime Nutrition and Wellness, and Culinary Arts,” Chef Toni Sloane said.

Students who are enrolled in this program receive benefits that go beyond just training.

“It’s an internship that gives us real world experience,” Badai said.

Students who complete this course receive cords for graduation along with a certificate proving that they have completed a kitchen manager’s certification study and are available to all culinary students including 2017 seniors. These young chefs have even had the chance to participate in a competition hosted by the Kids Teaching Kids program.

“The program is the competition our Practicum of Culinary Arts students competed in to be published in the 2017 cookbooks,” Sloane said. “Five of our recipes were selected to be published, four in the 2017 cookbooks and one in the 2018 cookbook.”

The 544 Cafe is open from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. for breakfast and 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for lunch on Wednesdays and Thursdays and soon they’ll be open on Tuesdays. All orders are available for pick up with the exception of daily specials and all orders must be placed an hour before each opening with large orders made a week in advance.

“I highly recommend emailing all orders in. Phone calls may not be answered during classes,” Sloane said.

While the restaurant is open to the public, it is not open to students.

“The cafe doesn’t not follow the specific guidelines needed to be a part of the school nutrition program such as the free lunch program for financially troubled families and as a result cannot accommodate the students,” Sloane said.

To place orders, email [email protected] or call ahead at 972-429-3125.