The main chefs from Case, Clark, and Fountain dining halls were rotated at the beginning of this academic year.

The idea was developed by the Bill Brizzolara, executive chef, and Keith Smith, food service manager, as a way to add variety to on-campus dining.

According to Smith, Brizzolara played a large part in determining where chefs went.

“Our executive chef proposed what locations would be best for each chef to move to,” Smith said.

Chef Joe went from Clark Dining Hall to Fountain Dining Hall. Chef Yves went from Fountain Dining Hall to Case Dining Hall.  Chef Kevin Nichols went from Case Dining Hall to Clark Dining Hall, according to Smith. 

“Each chef has different talent and strengths,” Smith said. “By moving the chefs, it allowed for their strengths to make each location stronger.”

According to Smith, each chef had been at their respective dining hall for several years.

“Each chef had been in their positions for about five year,” Smith said.  “Each chef has different talents and strengths.  By moving the chefs, it allowed for their strengths to make each location that much stronger.”

It was also important for University Dining to maintain the positive aspects of each chef after the switch, according to Smith.

“We wanted to leverage the talents and strengths of each chef in the new locations while maintaining the standards that the previous chef had established,” said Smith.

According to Smith, it was a difficult process for the chefs to learn about each location.

“It took time for the chefs to work with each other to learn the different locations,” Smith said, “but all of our chefs are so talented that they adjusted quickly to each change.”

The rotation was done during the summer.

“We did the change during orientation and summer camps in July,” Smith said.

Now that the rotation has been completed and the chefs are established, the results are starting to show.

“I think each chef has made small changes in each location to make the experience for our customers to be better this year than past years,” Smith said.

Smith said that over the past year, including the time since the swap occurred, customer comments have become more positive.

“This is a reflection that we are doing something right with presentation, marketing, menu development and making staff changes,” Smith said.

Smith said this is the first time this many positions have been changed simultaneously.

“This is not something that I plan to do on a regular basis,” Smith said. 

Smith said he is proud of how the rotation went.

“I am very proud of our locations and how each chef takes ownerships in food quality, appearance and taste,” Smith said.

According to Randy Lait, director of dining services, the change has been beneficial to students and University Dining as a whole.

“I think it has brought positive energy to the program,” Lait said, “so that each dining hall benefits from the best things each chef can do in addition to the good things the previous chefs did.”