Author: Riley Hooper
An eruption of applause and cheers broke out in the Marketplace dining room last Friday. The Occidental community was showing its appreciation for the members of the Campus Dining staff who participated in Occidental’s first Oxy Chef Family Recipe Showcase, where Oxy chefs prepared and served food of their choosing from their cultures or experiences.
“The atmosphere was so communal,” said Leandra Lehmann (junior), the Office of Student Life (OSL) Programming Assistant (PA) who helped organize the event, which was sponsored by OSL and Campus Dining.
The idea for the event originated with Lehmann, whose goal for the event was to let Oxy students get to know the people behind the food they eat everyday and to promote campus relations. Lehmann expressed that she feels that some students come across as having a sense of entitlement. “I think this is the perfect event to counteract that – to show the amazing qualities of the people cooking our food so we see them as Lita and as Javier – as who they are,” she said.
Lehmann expressed that before she started organizing this event and got to know the chefs, she too felt disconnected from them. “I just felt that, even as a junior, I didn’t know many of the people who worked at the Cooler, the Marketplace, or Campus Dining,” said Lehmann. But now, after she worked with Campus Dining to put on the event and even interviewed all of the chefs who participated for a pamphlet, she feels more connected.
“After getting to know the chefs I’ve been more conscious of choosing what to eat and conscious of what I say about the food,” said Lehmann, adding that she hopes this will happen to other students as well. “I’d like Oxy students to voice their appreciation more,” said Lehmann, adding, “I just hope everyone says ‘hi’ to people now.”
Ten members of the Oxy Campus Dining staff participated in the event. Their experience working at Oxy ranges from one month to 22 years; the food they prepared ranges from Italy to the Philippines.
At the Grill, Silvia Lopez prepared hand made tortillas to compliment Conrad Gomez’s beef Birria-both creations from the chefs’ native country of Mexico.
The sandwich bar was turned into an Italian paninoteca by Javier Hernandez who served up Caprese sandwiches.
At the salad bar, Lita Antonio served a traditional tropical fruit salad from her home country of the Philippines alongside Chio Bell, who created Chirashi Zushi, a typical dish from her native country of Japan.
Over at the pasta station Henry Borjorquez, namesake to the Henry’s Special in the Cooler, created white chicken enchiladas, as well as zucchini and squash white enchiladas.
At the pizza station Branden Revilla dished up a recipe from his grandmother-Norwegian Potato Klubb and veggie potato dumplings, while Balvir Dhillon created chicken Somosas, a dish native to her home country of India.
Moving on to the Homestyle station Joe Parks served up his own special Tri-Tip, marinated with Dr. Pepper, which is an old family recipe.
And to finish it all off, for dessert Yolanda Martinez had prepared Mexican Wedding Cookies.
For the event Lehmann prepared a pamphlet, which was dispersed around the Marketplace tables, that featured a mini biography on each of the chefs and information about the food they prepared. The pamphlet provided students with interesting facts about the chefs. For example, Hernandez’s apple pie won fourth place at the L.A. County Fair; Borjorquez has cooked for the likes of William Shatner, Brad Pitt and Barbara Streisand; Bell used to be a dancer and a dance teacher, and even danced and did voice over in the “Karate Kid” movies; and both Dhillon and Martinez have both had children attend Oxy.
As students sat down in the dining room to enjoy these culinary creations, Lehmann introduced the chefs individually, who were greeted with warm applause. The chefs beamed with pride at the recognition and appreciation they received.
“I’m just so happy that I made the chefs happy,” said Lehmann. “I’m glad they felt respected through the process and that they could show Oxy students who they are and what they do.”
Revilla explained that a lot of preparation and hard work went into cooking the food for this event. “This morning was quite hectic,” he said. “Everyone was battling to get to the oven.”
Parks expressed that all the hard work was worth it. “I think everybody was happy,” he said. “I hope to do it again next year.”
Students were pleased with the event. Some even went back for seconds or, if they were full, for food to save for later. Walking around the cafeteria, Lehmann received positive feedback from many students. She also received several text messages of praise from her friends.
Sierra Dwyer (senior) had the Caprese sandwich, which, she said, was “amazing.” “It was so fun to see the community of the Marketplace employees,” said Dwyer.
Gennevive White (sophomore) had two dishes – the enchiladas and the potato dumpling. “It was so good I wanted to get one of everything. I probably would have if the lines weren’t so long.”
Other students also expressed their desire to eat more. Jamie Thalman (senior) said, “I wish I hadn’t eaten for the month of November so I could eat from every station.”
Students not only praised the food, but the organizers of the event as well. “I think this is a really good idea. It’s nice to get to know the chefs because we don’t know a lot about them,” Julia Defigueiredo (first-year) said.
Several students expressed that they would like to see this event happen again. “I can definitely see it happening again next semester,” said Lehmann, “especially if students voice their opinion and give positive feedback.” She also discussed the possibility of holding the event on a smaller scale – perhaps featuring one chef a week.
As one of six OSL PAs, Lehmann enjoys putting on events such as this one. She expressed that it is gratifying to know that the events she plans can have a positive impact on others are appreciated by her peers. “It’s the most fulfilling job I’ve had on campus,” she said.
Citing that part of her job is to promote community relations, Lehmann hopes that this event will help to create a friendly atmosphere between students and Campus Dining staff. “They were just so full of enthusiasm and passion about working at Oxy,” said Lehmann of the featured chefs. “Knowing how much they appreciate us should be motivation for people to talk to the chefs, smile, wave or compliment them on their food.”
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