Update: Turner is looking to be back by Mar. 17 with reservations opening for classes the following week.

Hatters’ Cafe season is one every DHS student eagerly awaits. The smell of American cuisine, the taste of home fries and the same smiling face that has greeted students for the past 14 years are beloved.

That face is Brian Turner, and this year will be the first that he has not been prepping students for work at the Cafe due to a severe ankle injury he sustained over winter break this year.

The Hatters’ Cafe is a full-running restaurant on campus that normally opens up to faculty the last week of February — a sure sign that spring is coming — and completely opens to the public mid-March, meaning that students may come in with their teachers in class.

“We serve real food. Sell it for real money,” says Turner via email.

Typically, Turner teaches the students first how to properly prepare the food; training them in a full fledge culinary arts program. After that they allow guests into the Cafe.

But, due to his injury, he was unable to return in January, leaving his students without a teacher and head chef.

“I undertook a four-hour reconstructive surgery that repaired tendons and ligaments in the ankle and a fracture in the leg,” Turner says, “I am in a non-weight bearing cast for around 4 weeks.”

He was prohibited from being mobile, which is pretty important when eight things are being done at one time in a kitchen with open flames. So he teamed up with the administration to find a qualified replacement while he is in recovery.

Turner decided Diane Arifian would be the perfect replacement to teach the students how to prepare restaurant-worthy meals.

Arifian is a recently retired food and nutrition teacher and has kindly agreed to step in for Turner until his return.

“Brian and I are neighbors,” she says, “so we work together and keep each other updated.”

Despite the lost time, Arifian says she feels confident. “The students are great and eager to learn,” she says.

“She,” Arifian, “is doing well, she has control over everything.” Says junior Jim Parra.

The late start has not come without its problems, though. Normally, the students would already know how to prepare the food at a servable quality. But, when Arifian got there, “They didn’t know how to make anything, let alone how to wait on students.”

Right now they’re racing the clock. “We count on the income to supply the culinary programs. It’s really important that we get it up and running,” she says.

Arifian also can’t stay past February due to a previously planned trip; so they’re just hoping that Turner can make it back in time to open the Cafe.

Despite the pressure of the late opening, “Ms. Arifian is handling it well. We are a little behind,” senior Dan Baker says, “however with Mr. Turner out, Ms. Arifian is doing a really good job.”

Turner says, “We are behind a few weeks, but not badly. When I return we will hopefully be able to be ready to go into full-time restaurant mode.”

Though he describes this experience as “truly humbling,” he says it has refreshed him and he has been receiving immense support from the staff and students.

“I would like to say that I am thankful for the community of students in the Culinary Arts program and also the student body in general,” he says. “The emails, texts and comments have been a welcome sight. They are truly an awesome students and I could not ask for better attitudes and concern during this time.”

Both Turner and Arifian are optimistic that the Hatters’ Cafe will be ready for business very soon, at the same high quality that the students have grown to expect and love from the program.

“There will be home fries this year!” Turner says.