Dressed in a white tuxedo shirt with a red bow tie and black pants, the waiter serves an appetizer, the beginning of a four-course meal.

Is this The Tavern Restaurant or Cafe 210 West? No, this is the Henderson Human Development Building. Hotel, restaurant and institutional management students prepare and serve dinners Tuesdays and Wednesdays for their class, HRIM 410.

The customers are students and townspeople who have made reservations for either of two sittings - 5:30 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. There is a mailing list of about 600 people who get information on the dates and themes of dinners and the specific times to make reservations, said Peter Bordi, professor-in-charge of the Restaurant Management School of HRIM.

Reservations are accepted during the second and eighth week of the semester. Each time the school takes about 1,200 reservations -- around 115 people per night -- and has a waiting list of 50 to 100 people, Bordi said.

At the most recent reservation period, seats sold out in three hours, Bordi said. Customers come to educate themselves in cuisine, and because the meal is a "bargain" at $9.50, Bordi said.

Instructor Heather Thames said, "It's a good price and the selection of food you can't get everywhere. If you want to try different types of cuisine, this is a nice place to come."

Bordi and Thames prepare and train the students during the first four weeks of the class, which is offered each semester. During this time, they are divided into groups of seven and are required to submit a pre-production report before planning their first meal as a management team, Bordi said.

The students are assigned a theme for this first meal, but are required to create their own for the second meal, he said, noting that only students in the restaurant option have to do two meals. For their pre-production report, students must research the history of the foods and culture of the meal, locating recipes to fit the theme, he said.

They then convert home recipes for mass-quantity use and figure the price for the exact amount of each item used per plate. Also, students must write job descriptions and plan the use of all equipment.

Nina Kline (senior-HRIM) and Joanie McGettigan (senior-HRIM) are currently working to prepare a dinner for March 21. In accordance with their theme -- "A World Cruise" -- the seven members of their group have researched the history of cruise ships, especially the Queen Elizabeth II, Kline said.

Both Kline and McGettigan said they think preparation is the hardest part of the course. However, Kline said, "It pays off. It's like writing a report and being able to see its impact."

Students also learn to cope with pressure, McGettigan said. "If something goes wrong, you have to deal with it. (It's) decision-making skills. And you learn from your mistakes immediately," she added.

Bordi said of the special dinners, "Our dean calls them, 'living labs' because students are financially responsible for the operation. They run the operation from start to finish." Students work with a specific allotment from the department.

"As far as dining room and service go, they're responsible for handling reservations, seating customers, and learning about the food," he added.

Jessica Murphy (senior-HRIM), who participates in the program, said, "HRIM 410 gives you a chance to be in every aspect of the facility. You have to know how to run everything yourself in order to teach others in the future." Murphy's group planned a Valentine's Day meal with the theme, "A Lover's Cruise To Rome."

Customer service is the "ultimate thing," according to Bordi. Waiters educate the customers with the information they have learned about the theme's culture and food.

"We have comment cards we give to our customers every night. If somebody doesn't give them customer education, that's the thing they complain about. They will put up with the food no matter what," Bordi said.

Because this is similar to a real restaurant or hotel, students learn three important management skills: to budget time, to be organized, and to communicate well, he said.

"(The students) come out stronger because they have to do it, and they have to do it totally," said Bordi. "They have a better concept and understanding of how a restaurant should run."