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The Rice Thresher
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by Rachel Rustin for the Thresher The line stretching out of the building isn't for *NSync tickets or Cynthia Cooper's autograph. It's for College Food Service food - but with a twist. The school year started off with an entirely new kitchen staff at Brown College, all of whom have degrees in the culinary arts. Their new ideas, such as made-to-order entrees and a menu slightly different from that of the other colleges, have already become popular on campus. Managing Chef Roger Elkhouri came to Rice after working at the Omni Hotel in Houston. "It was a great opportunity - I wanted to make a difference," Elkhouri said. "Everything here is excellent. We've gotten excellent feedback from students, [and] there is excellent food, and excellent service." Associate Director for Food Operations Matt Morgan placed an ad in the Houston Press seeking someone with a culinary background. "We decided that the person who is going to be in charge of the new [Wiess/Hanszen] kitchen had to be a culinarian," Morgan said. "We wanted to go ahead and bring somebody on board to learn the Rice way." The new kitchen staff has tried to determine ways to positively affect the students who eat and live at Brown. One such addition has been a table of chips, fruit and sometimes cookies that is always available. "People are actually coming from other college to eat here," Elkhouri said. It makes [the staff] feel good." Future plans for the Brown kitchen include a training center, where members of the staff would be able to receive additional degrees in the culinary arts. Training Chef Mark Fernandez worked at Sammy's and Rice Catering before being transferred to Brown for this academic year. "I love it," Fernandez said. "I can communicate with the students. I like their smiling faces - they know we're here to serve them." Fernandez said he is well aware that food at Brown has grown in popularity on campus, despite Brown's distance from many of the other colleges. "They like what they see and we appreciate it," Fernandez said. "We're beyond Brown now. The number of people coming to meals is increasing." The positive changes in the food and food service are evident to many Brown students. "They are oriented towards giving us good food and making us happy," Brown junior Julie Watson said. "I'm happy when we come to dinner. Everyone spends the first 10 minutes talking about how good the food is." Brown junior Michelle Gomez agreed. "They try to do their own thing," Gomez said. "They do presentations, and the food is so much fresher." But not everyone agrees that Brown's food is better than food at the other colleges. Wiess College junior Zarema Singson had been hearing positive things about Brown's food and walked to Brown for dinner with high hopes. "It didn't taste that much different from CK to me," Singson said. "I had expected more, and found that it really wasn't worth the walk across campus." Brown College Coordinator Nancy Henry is aware that the new food choices at Brown are not problem-free. "The lines are usually long and it goes slowly because they're fixing nice plates - you have so many choices," she said. "You have to be determined to eat lunch here." Despite the long waits, Henry is glad that the new system came to Brown. "The cooks are very nice and very concerned with what they're doing. They're very interested in us being happy, so we're making an effort to keep them happy," Henry said. Elhouri and his staff are still working out some kinks in the new service, such as long lines and inadequate kitchen equipment, but the staff is already developing ideas for improvement. "We appreciate all the students and their feedback," Fernandez said. "It's an ongoing process and it's going to get better." Brown wasn't the only college to get a cafeteria upgrade over the summer. Both Lovett and Will Rice Colleges have undergone some major changes since last year. "We've done some different things in Lovett and Will Rice, as well, to make them completely self-serve," Morgan said. "The new facilities will all be self-serve. We want it to feel like it's home." Improvements to the system don't necessarily mean that it was flawed. "This is no way reflects negatively about any of our staff. It's a fresh start; let's see what we can create," Morgan said. "We want to add new skills and new talents, and we want to be able to gain some new knowledge," he said.
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