To celebrate Valentine's Day and their second wedding anniversary, Jeanette and Ben Sherman of Flagstaff treated themselves to a special dinner at The Inn at NAU Friday night.

The Shermans are Northern Arizona University students. He's a forestry major, and she's training to be a nurse. They learned about Table d'Hote, a six-course meal offered by the inn several times a semester, on the NAU Web site.

They went because they couldn't beat the price, Jeanette Sherman said, and, "It's nicer than I ever thought it would be."

Table d'Hote is a French word that means "table of the house," said Rachel Russell, a student manager at The Inn at NAU. That means the set menu is chosen in advance by the chef for a set price. In observance of Valentine's Day, the inn is offering a dinner tonight that is identical to Friday night's table d'hote. (The event is booked, but the next one will be Feb. 24.)

This menu was served last Friday and will remain the same tonight: appetizer, poached oysters in cream; soup, consommé royale; salad, strawberry radish; sorbet, prickly pear champagne sorbet; entrée, roast tenderloin with bearnaise sauce and New England lobster tail, parmesan cheese duchesse potato, steamed asparagus; and dessert, Valentine's parfait la créme with honey and nutmeg.

The food is prepared and served by students of NAU's School of Hotel & Restaurant Management under the guidance of Executive Chef Don Carlson on selected evenings.

As couples and families filed into the inn Friday before the 6:30 p.m. meal service, at the door each woman was given a red rose entwined with white baby's breath flowers and bound with red and white ribbon. Candy hearts complete with playful slogans were scattered on each white tablecloth-covered table. Tealights in heart-shaped wire baskets added to the romantic atmosphere, as did the dimmed lights. Each reserved table bore a personalized sign with the last name of the party.

"It's a great touch," Ben Sherman said of the sign on the table that bore their surname and the heart candies that accented the table. It was the couple's first visit to The Inn at NAU.

SERVING UP A
REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE

The Inn at NAU is mostly student-run. Friday night there were 15-20 students working, Russell said. Some were paid student workers but the majority were HRM majors who earned credit toward lab classes.

Russell, from Mancos, Colo., hopes to be a general manager of a hotel someday. The senior HRM major, who plans to graduate in May, interviewed Thursday with Four Seasons, Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott. She told them she would relocate anywhere.

"The opportunity to travel would be wonderful," she said.

Lots of hotel and restaurant chains come here to recruit, Russell said. She said she has gotten "great management experience" at NAU, largely because of the inn.

"I've been able to work in all different departments," Russell said.

She is savoring her last months of holidays.

"Any time the campus shuts down, this shuts down," she said, so she has been able to be off work for Christmas, Thanksgiving and other holidays. She realizes the real world of HRM doesn't work that way, and she has warned her family that they'll have to celebrate holidays without her once she gets a post-college job.

Lloyd Shelton, assistant general manager of the Inn at NAU and an HRM instructor, worked alongside the students Friday night.

"They get to experience real life situations," he said. "I think that's one of the reasons we get a tremendous amount of recruiters."

During the meal service, the group of all-female servers helped one another hoist a tray full of dishes onto one woman's shoulder to be carried into kitchen.

"You got it?" one asked her classmate.

There were about six German exchange students who worked as servers Friday night. They are majoring in HRM and attend NAU through an exchange program between universities. Some of them spoke German to one another as they served tables.

"Entshuldigung," [excuse me] one said as she passed another.

An elder husband and wife held hands at their table between courses. They had been to The Inn at NAU before, and their server, Tina Heider, remembered what kind of tea the woman had before and where she sat. The customers seemed very impressed.

Heider is a German exchange student who has worked at The Inn at NAU since last summer, when she first came to the university. As part of the program, she had to spend a year at one of five schools other than her German university. She picked NAU.

She said she recently learned that she made the right decision because "this one will be the best reputation for me, or will fit me the best."

ELEGANCE AND
PROFESSIONALISM

Each table in the inn was set with three forks, four spoons, two knives, two wine glasses and a water glass, along with a variety of plates.

Conversations could be heard of patrons wondering which utensil to use for which course.

Each student looked professional in a uniform of dark blue button-down shirt and black pants and served each course in an expert manner at just the right time.

The Inn at NAU seats about 70 for functions such as the Table d'Hote. If indoor/outdoor seating is possible, 250 people can be accommodated.

The cost per person is $29.95. Alcohol is not included in the price of the meal, but the average drink costs $5. Tax is not charged because the inn is a state institution. Tipping is not required because that's what the Board of Regents decided on at the beginning of the restaurant's existence, Shelton said.

A scholarship box was established at the entrance to the inn as an alternative to tipping. Shelton said many scholarships are granted to HRM students as a result.

By the end of the evening, the Shermans were pleased with their experience and said they planned to return to The Inn at NAU. Jeanette Sherman loved the oysters. Ben Sherman said the tenderloin was his favorite. They usually eat fast but enjoyed taking their time here, they said.

Annie Braun can be reached at abraun@azdailysun.com or 556-2250.

WANT TO GO?

Remaining Table d'Hotes scheduled for Spring 2006:

Feb. 24

March 10

March 31

April 14

April 28 (Murder Mystery Dinner)

For reservations call The Inn at NAU, 523-1616. On the Net: www.inn.nau.edu. The inn is located at San Francisco Street and McCreary.