With the beginning of the second quarter, students and faculty are becoming more aware of all the culinary options available at Elder’s lunch. Overall, customers of the cafeteria have been very satisfied with the options each day.

This includes people who tend to buy the lunch of the day instead of a burger and fries or a slice of pizza that one could get every day. However, with all of the new lunch options, Elder has also thrown in a completely new variable: guest chefs.

A guest chef comes into prepare big meals for the students every couple of weeks. These meals often have cultural background tied with the chef’s origin. Some of the meals prepared have been make-your-own enchiladas, Chinese noodle bowls, and loaded baked potatoes.

There isn’t a food that I don’t like, so I personally thought the meals from these guest chefs were all off the chain. However, I wanted to gather some other opinions, so I took to the halls of Elder to hear from staff and students.

When thinking of faculty that partake in the purchase of food during Elder’s lunch time, one man immediately came to mind. I got a chance to speak to Mr. Bell about the food from these chefs during one of his free bells.

Right off of the bat, Mr. Bell had very great things to say about them. “I really liked the Baked Potato line that they had the other day,” Bell said. He also explained that he thought it was very neat that Elder has been bringing in chefs to prepare meals that not a lot of students get to have very often.

Despite his high review of the food from these chefs, Mr. Bell had one complaint. “If only the guest chefs told the regular chefs to stop making the burgers just a meat ball with cheese, then we would really be making head way.”

After speaking with Mr. Bell, I wanted to get an opinion from a student other than myself. Anthony Holmes instantly came to mind when I thought of a student who buys lunch every day. I got a chance to sit down with Holmesy at lunch one day.

Much like my first interview, I got nothing but great words about the fare from Holmes. “I like everything except Mexican food, but other than that I think the guest chefs are awesome,” he stated. “The portion size you get from the guest chefs are also way better than any portion you get from the daily food,” Holmes mentioned.

It’s no surprise Anthony looks for meals that offer the most food, it must take a lot to energize the skyscraper of a man.

My last interview was with one of the lunch ladies who helps make the entire program with guest chefs happen. I got a chance to speak with Birdie, a fan favorite thanks to her cheerfulness and how she always asks how your day is.

“Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with how quick the chefs move, and other times it’s hard because the meals are so big to feed all of the students, that they aren’t ready in time” Birdie explained. “But I do have to say, the food is a lot better this year, and if the kids are happy, I’m happy,” she mentioned.

Ms. Birdie went on to say that meeting and getting to work with the guest chefs is always a fun experience as well.

While students are striving for the higher things in the class room, the guest chefs definitely help the lunches reach higher reviews. Next time a guest chefs comes to campus, make sure to make a trip to the food line during lunch to see what they got cooking.