Trying out the L'Ecole Culinaire Presentation Room restaurant

We had been seeing the ads for the restaurant at L'Ecole Culinaire and since we live so close by we thought we would try it out. We had always enjoyed dining out at cooking or hotel schools like the CHIC in Chicago and the Statler at Cornell where we went to college. Since we still love to go out and eat here in St. Louis, we ventured over to their restaurant on the first day they were open for lunch. The first thing we noticed is that they do not have much parking! They really need to let patrons know where they are supposed to park. The restaurant itself is small but very well attended. There was one fellow who kept straightening all the centerpieces and place settings on the tables, and we always saw one or two student workers milling about. The lunch menu was small and the choices did not appear overly "gourmet". The special of the day was a bison burger stuffed with cheese, and other choices picked by my group included a club sandwich, a "margherita" pizza and a crab pita. You would think a cooking school would have more interesting selections for their restaurant. The staff was attentive and the food arrived quickly. It was all reasonably prepared but none of it was out of the ordinary. I suppose we were expecting something more like the Statler or CHIC, but perhaps they are different for dinner (once they serve it again).