The Chef Showcase event, presented by University Culinary Services, offered a chance for four Kent State staff chefs to show off their skills in preparing dishes that were fancy and fun.
Two chefs prepared and served their menu selections at Eastway Center, and two chefs had their stations at DI Dining. Students could sample their offerings or make a meal of them. Event “passports” were provided that would get punched as students visited each chef’s station. Completed passports with punches from all four chefs were entered into a prize drawing.
University Culinary Services wants to see students’ reactions to the dishes being served to determine if they may be added to the regular menu rotations of campus dining halls.
Eastway Exclusives
Chef Melania Noel Beeman was at the Wheatless Ways station designated to offer students items prepared without gluten. Her special menu items for the day were chicken marsala, arancini rice balls and roasted broccolini. She said she chose to prepare this particular gluten-free menu because her best friend “loves it.”
Chef Melania graduated from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania as a pastry chef and said that she loves making doughnuts and wedding cakes.
At the Culinary Creations station, Chef Heather Chaffee had fun at the fair in mind when she designed her menu for the day. She prepared and served corn dogs, Italian sausage with mozzarella cheese, marinara, pepper and onions on a hoagie bun along with parmesan garlic fries, fried cauliflower “wings” and funnel fries.
The funnel fries, served with powdered sugar and chocolate and caramel sauces for dipping, were a breakout favorite with the students dining at Eastway.
Chef Heather is a Kent State Magna Cum Laude graduate who thought to herself “how amazing it would be to work at Kent State, where I attended, and then it happened.”
Fine DI Dining
At DI Dining inside the DI Hub, two more chefs offered their unique menu items to the hungry students there. Chef Zou Kahwaji, who has been with Kent State for more than 20 years and has “loved every minute of it” was at the Culinary Creations station
He describes his passions as “creating unique menus and creative dishes to share with others.” He prepared both hot and cold dishes, the hot menu included butter chicken, basmati rice, Gatar Matar, ginger and garlic broccoli and roasted turmeric cauliflower. His cold items were hummus with pita bread, diced tomato, Kalamata olives and olive oil.
Chef Zou said that Lebanese cooking is his love. “Today was a good day,” he said. “I like doing events like these because students need to come and enjoy the different meals that are made.”
At the Wheatless Ways station, Sous Chef Andrew Phillips prepared dishes that reminded him of holidays with his family. His menu offerings, prepared without gluten, were local mushroom risotto, salmon grilled with cream tomato herb sauce, Mediterranean-roasted vegetables and oven-roasted asparagus.
Chef Andrew has worked in the hospitality industry for more than 14 years and seven of those years have been with Kent State. He said, “The sauce with the salmon is my favorite and risotto is something I always make during Thanksgiving.”
So, what did the students think?
Anna Marshall, a sophomore nursing major from Mentor was dining with a friend, Kayla Shermer, a sophomore fashion design major also from Mentor. Marshall said that she was looking for a snack to go with her main meal, so she picked the cauliflower “wings” and had the funnel fries as a dessert. “I thought they were both really good,” she said.
Shermer, who also had funnel fries and cauliflower “wings,” along with parmesan garlic fries said “I thought everything was so good. I loved the cauliflower. It is perfectly soft in the middle and crunchy on the outside. I’m a big fan of cauliflower, no matter how it’s cooked. It definitely puts a smile on my face when I see we have it in the cafeteria.”
Samantha Blose, a sophomore nursing major from Pittsburgh sat at a table with Max Cervenak, a sophomore finance major from Parma and Thomas Bock, a sophomore aeronautics studies major from New Fairfield, Connecticut. Cervenak said “I haven’t tried it all yet, but I’m really excited. The food looks really good. I feel like there’s a lot of new stuff this year and I’m excited about that.
Blose said “Like Max said, I’m excited for all the new stuff. The chicken is really moist, and the risotto ball is also just really good.” Bock agreed and said “Overall, it looks a lot better and tastes a lot better so far. I’m excited to see what else they have.”
Special thanks to University Culinary Services for their assistance in creating this story and especially Julia Keahey, video and digital marketing coordinator, University Housing and Culinary Services and Lilly Olson.