Guests will be wined and dined like never before Saturday at Les Gourmets, a dinner hosted by students in the School of Hospitality Business.

Those who attend this annual event can look forward to enjoying a champagne reception followed by a seven-course dinner. But the dinner is only part of Saturday’s presentations.

Although the dinner has featured themes in the past, this year’s event will focus on the new scholarship.

“Our main thrust is we’re going to create the Les Gourmets Endowed Scholarship,” said hospitality business senior and Les Gourmets Executive Director Matthew Finnerty.

The scholarship was the idea of chef Robert Nelson, who heads the professional staff of Les Gourmets.

Nelson said he hopes to start the scholarship off with $10,000 this year, eventually reaching $30,000.

With all the planning and work that has gone into Les Gourmets this year, it’s no wonder the dinner has been sold out for several months, Nelson said.

Profits from the dinner, which costs $100, will go to the scholarship.

“After the event last year we started planning for this year, so it’s been a year in the making,” Finnerty said.

And planning for next year will start soon.

Adam Covington, a hospitality business junior and Les Gourmets assistant executive director, looks forward to hosting next year’s event, but is focused for now on Saturday.

“It’s really exciting to see it come together. These students are dedicating their time and effort,” he said of the many volunteers.

Student volunteers, mostly from the School of Hospitality Business, have been trained especially for the event in serving standards, wine pouring and platter presentation.

Covington said Les Gourmets is a great opportunity for students to gain experience in food preparation.

“No matter what, in the hospitality business you’re going to work with food and beverage,” he said.

Among the attendees will be parents, community members, past hospitality business graduates and corporate representatives from national businesses such as Marriott.

Although the dinner will be lavish, some guests may not know how much work is involved.

“I don’t think people coming off the street realize what’s going into this,” Finnerty said. “There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into the marketing and human resources.”

Nelson, known as “the million-dollar chef” because of an endowed position in the school, said this year’s dinner will be special because all the wines to be served are not only Michigan-made, but are being donated by MSU graduates.

Featured guests include many high-profile Spartan graduates, many of whom once contributed to Les Gourmets.

“These great chefs come to join us every year,” Nelson said. “They’re the real chefs of America.”