Upon moving into the new Senior School campus, then-Grade 11 students Brendan Li (’27) and Thomas Qiu (’27) were inspired to start the Saints Cooking Club. The two students shared that their original vision was to bring the wonders of cooking to Saints, adding, “Cooking is like an art for the taste buds. Why then does Saints have an arts department but not a cooking one?”
Unfortunately, the very first Saints Cooking Club meeting would also be its last. Led by Thomas in T305, ten students were guided step by step to prepare smash burgers. All the necessary ingredients and tools were provided, including knives, spatulas, and propane stoves, alongside hamburger buns, ground beef, lettuce, and tomatoes. The meeting started off smoothly, as students quickly prepared their ingredients, slicing veggies and sculpting the ground beef into patties. At Thomas’s signal, the patties were thrown simultaneously onto the pans. The room immediately filled with pops and cracks from sizzling patties and large columns of smoke in the air.
For several minutes, the student cooks were oblivious to any danger and kept on cooking. However, as the sharp scent of fumes grew unbearable and coughs started ringing out, it became quickly apparent that the smoke was an issue. It wasn’t leaving the room at all, and visibility dropped sharply.
With the situation growing dire, nearby teachers Dr. Webster and Mr. Tran were quickly called to the scene. The stoves were shut off. Every door was propped open. Even the fume hood was turned on. Still, the smoke lingered in the room for several more minutes. Mr. Tran reflected, “It’s a miracle that the fire alarms were not set off.” The meeting was promptly adjourned, and all the prepared ingredients and food sadly went uneaten. As the second lunch bell rang, it symbolically marked the end of both lunch and the Saints Cooking Club.
