Homemade at the houses

Kitchen management company finds place at UI

Fast food is a favorite among students, but having a nutritious and balanced diet is essential to success in college, according to Dave Tarrant, general manager of business operations for College Chefs, LLC.

College Chefs, a company that provides homemade meals to Greek houses across the country, has moved in at the University of Idaho. Two UI sororities have contracted College Chefs — Delta Delta Delta (Tri Delta) and Kappa Alpha Theta.

UI junior Kailey Holt, member and former house manager of Tri Delta, said members of her sorority felt they were not getting their money’s worth when it came to the food and service they were receiving from the house’s previous kitchen management.

“One of the things we had found with our previous management was that it was really hard to be in communication with them,” Holt said. “When you are dealing with as much money as we are … you kind of expect a certain level of service and a certain level of professionalism, and we just felt, at the time, our needs weren’t really being met.”

In August, when the house was going through recruitment, Holt said she began looking for a new kitchen management company. As the house manager at the time, she said one of her jobs was employee management. She reached out to other chapters and discovered two sororities had recently changed their cooking programs.

Kappa Alpha Theta had recently hired College Chefs and Holt, after speaking to the different cooking companies at each house, decided College Chefs would be the best fit for Tri Delta.

“Not only was it the food aspect, it was the business management aspect of College Chefs that we really like,” Holt said.

Tarrant said everything College Chefs cooks is from scratch. Even if the chefs cook something fried, they “do it right,” he said.

“One of the big draws for a chef in this job is they have full reign over the menus that they write, so they can try any type of food … as long as it’s okay with the house,” Tarrant said. “One of the consistent things we hear from our chefs all the time is that they love the creativity that we give them.”

Tarrant said the company chefs usually come from a restaurant, country club or catering background and most have a culinary degree. He said they provide the food and management as well as menu planning. Some houses are more involved in the menu planning than others, and he said most come to trust the chefs enough to let them make more exotic foods.

Master Chef Kevin Gadus started College Chefs in 2009. Tarrant said he started the company after relocating to Champagne, Illinois, where there were not a lot of restaurants or opportunity for big-time chefs like Gadus. But, Gadus found potential in the needs of fraternities and sororities on college campuses, Tarrant said.

Holt said the food is excellent, and the chef caters to the needs of the house members. As a vegetarian, Holt said the chef is always willing to cook a veggie burger or tofu patty for her. She said even though she has different dietary needs, she feels she is still getting her money’s worth and the service stays consistent.

“It’s always been A+ expectations and A+ service throughout our entire experience with them,” Holt said. “What they told us we should expect is what we are actually receiving from the company.”

Mary Malone can be reached at [email protected]

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