Wendy Albert, chef and co-owner of Tempo Restaurant on Duke Street in Alexandria is familiar with the Alexandria Campus ESL programs. She has referred a number of her employees to the program over the last 14 years. Her encounters in ESL Land began 23 years ago when she met a young man who spoke French, Spanish and Italian fluently, but she says with a wry smile, “his English… well, it needed A LOT of improvement!.” She continues, “While dating, he asked me to pick him up at a friend’s house off of Russell Road. [in Alexandria]. I drove up and down Russell Road looking for 4 Island Street. From King Street to Commonwealth and back, I drove three times, never seeing Island Street. I had passed Highland Street three times before I realized that that must be the street. There he was, waiting for me… ‘What took you so long?’ he said. ‘Had to stop for gas,’ was my reply. The relationship with the tall Frenchman blossomed into marriage and the two chefs also became business partners in the Zagut rated Tempo Restaurant.

(L to R) Wendy and Serge Albert,co-owners of Tempo Restaurant and Efrian DeLao, Restaurant Employee and Student of NVCC's Alexandria campus

When Wendy and Serge opened Tempo, she says, “It was truly then that I knew that I was living in ESL Land. I am the only person in the restaurant that speaks English as a first language. My days are spent in the kitchen speaking Spanish [with employees] and listening to my husband rattle away about cooking mistakes people make in very loud French.” The kitchen doubles as a classroom where the chalkboard used to list the prep tasks for the day becomes the space for ESL lessons. As the day progresses the board is slowly erased as the prep tasks are completed. “I write new words in English and then in Spanish. I draw pictures when we cannot find the word in another language and we have fun with our pictures, (the only thing we are artistic with is food.)” she says with a laugh.

The restaurant business, well-known for its high turnover rate makes Tempo an anomaly because they have employees who have been with the business since its opening 14 years ago. Wendy attributes Tempo’s success with long-term employees to a number of things including being accessible as owners. She says, “We are concerned about our employees, their families, their health and lifestyles.” First, Wendy and Serge encourage their employees to gain legal immigrant status and permanent citizenship, helping them to find lawyers and being sponsors. “If they cannot afford the lawyer we loan them the money and set up easy payments that they can afford. [Also,] I encourage all of my ESL employees to take English classes and we work their schedules around their class times when possible.”

The star success of Tempo Restaurant’s efforts is their sou chef, Efrain De Lao. He has worked at Tempo since it opened 14 years ago, beginning as a dishwasher who spoke no English. “We began our ESL classes in the kitchen, learning new words and basic sentence structure every day. One day Efrain asked if he could try to do something new that he had seen my husband do so many times. I told him, ‘Knock yourself out.’ ‘Why would I want to do that?’ was his reply. We had entered the amusing world of American idioms,” Wendy says with a twinkle in her eye.

Today, Efrain is a U.S. citizen, a homeowner, and is attending school right here at the Alexandria Campus to get his degree in computer science. He still works full time at Tempo.

Wendy continues Efrain’s remarkable story, “When he first started school at the Alexandria Campus he was stunned by how little he was prepared for learning by his early education. He decided to begin the first library for children in his home village in El Salvador.” With help from the Albert’s, Tempo Restaurant patrons and friends donating books, he went to the El Salvador embassy and El Salvadorian airlines to provide free shipping for over 900 pounds of books and computers.

Efrian’s next brainstorm was to purchase enough land to build a high school in his home village. Once again Tempo facilitated the fundraiser and one year later the land was purchased. The excess in funds is helping the government build the school.

Wendy finishes her inspiring story, “Efrain has now taken my position as the teacher, freeing up my time to do other things like market the business and pay our bills on time! Just because a person doesn’t speak your language doesn’t mean they are stupid… so many ESL individuals have a lot to contribute to our society! It is amazing what a little support from an employer can do!” To learn more about Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria Campus ESL programs (both credit and non-credit), visit the website or call 703.845.6200 or check the website at http://www.nvcc.edu.

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Last Updated July 12, 2005