By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Prdocuer
HELL'S KITCHEN — Chelsea's next big pop-up eatery isn't the project of a trendy restaurateur — it's a labor of love for teenage aspiring chefs.
Pop-up restaurant "Entre Nous" won't operate for long — just one dinner on Friday, May 20 — but it will do so in the television studios at the Food Network (on the sixth floor of Chelsea Market).
On Thursday, students from the Food and Finance High School prepared a tasting menu for their pop-up restaurant, including seared tilapia raised in the school's aquaculture fish farm and fresh herbs from the hydroponic lab on site.
The biggest hit with guests, including City Councilwoman Gale Brewer and artist Brian Farrell, was roasted pumpkin, prepared with Moroccan spices, crème fraiche and Thai chili oil.
"Here's a school that does extraordinary training — it needs to be supported," said Brewer.
As they carried out seven courses, students stressed over the details — timing, in particular.
"This is a lot to handle in one situation, so you gain that tolerance," said student Dominique Levia, 17, Queens.
They hope that practice will pay off next month, when they walk the Food Network's stage, a place they say has hosted their heroes.
"It's cool to see how we can turn a space of nothing into something so beautiful," Harlemite Nia Gibson, 17, said as she prepared to pass out a course of charred squid with salsa verde, watercress and Thai chili oil.
Representing the Food Network, Senior Vice President of Culinary Production Susan Stockton said she was eager to support the students, amid a climate of tight budgets.
"I have been very impressed by how seriously they take their profession," Stockton said. "They're ready to work."
