Inside St. B’s Kitchen

 

Chef Wells appreciates the positive atmosphere that she finds at work each day and enjoys working with the members of her team.  With a background in French cuisine, she mentors her staff and finds opportunities to share what she has learned over the years.  She loves that her job gives her the capacity to be creative.  The job requires planning, thinking on your feet, problem-solving, and multitasking.  Chef Wells finds it rewarding to produce a variety of healthy dishes that the boys actually enjoy eating.  While many boys would be content eating pizza, pasta, and tacos, countless parents have expressed their amazement and gratitude that their selective eater had embraced new foods.  When Chef Wells is not in the kitchen she spends time in nature, rides horses, hikes, whittles wooden spoons, and writes poetry. 

Jacob has been at St. B’s for almost twenty years.  Like Chef Wells, Jacob is proud of the great team in the kitchen.  The people who work with him are like family to him, and they make coming to work a joy.  He strives to make every dish he makes taste great and look nice.  He likes to eat Chinese food, so he especially likes to cook chicken or pork stir fry at school.  When he is at home, he also cooks for his family, who loves his homemade creamy pasta with shrimp.  On weekends he enjoys making sandwiches with his sons.  They shop for the ingredients together and make delicious, new combinations each week.

Besna has worked in St. B’s kitchen for twelve years.  She makes multiple prepared salads for the salad bar each day.  She loves to make potato salad, curry chicken salad, and chef salad.  It makes her day when people tell her how much they enjoyed a particular salad, and she tries to remember which salads are most popular.  She takes extra time to prepare toppings for the salad bar, roasting vegetables early in the day to add more flavor.  At the end of each work day, she takes stock of the ingredients and starts planning for the next day.  After work Besna enjoys playing with her daughter.  Over the summer she visited her family in Colombia with her husband and daughter, who delighted everyone when she took her first steps.

Hajra has been working at St. B’s since 2009, but each day feels fresh and new to her.  She enjoys each of her responsibilities, which include setting up the dining hall, preparing ingredients for main dishes, serving lunch from the hot bar, and helping out wherever it is needed.  She likes that her job keeps her moving and is different every day.  She feels lucky to work at a place where she loves everyone she works with.  She particularly enjoys her interactions with the boys, who always bring a smile to her face.  At home she is always moving too, and she looks forward to spending time with her family.  She has two young granddaughters whom she loves to help care for on weekends.  Her granddaughters, along with the rest of her family, always make her happy.

Jennifer started working at St. B’s four years ago as a prep in the kitchen.  Over the years she has taken on more responsibilities and is happy to now be a cook in St. B’s kitchen.  At first it was an adjustment to cook on such a large scale.  Now she is comfortable cooking 100 lbs. of chicken and other sides in one day.  She likes the creativity of cooking and finds great satisfaction in every dish she makes.  She is a great baker, and many boys and teachers know to ask her what homemade dessert they can look forward to eating.  She enjoys spending time with family and friends during her time off, and often cooks for them too.  Her dream is to become a chef like her mom, who continues to inspire Jennifer daily.

Maria joined the St. B’s kitchen team three years ago.  Her daily duties include accepting food deliveries several times per week, unpacking the deliveries, and organizing all of the ingredients in the multiple refrigerators and freezers.  She prepares cold-cuts and lettuce for the salad bar and washes all of the dishes during the busy lunch service.  She enjoys all of the work and juggles her many responsibilities with ease.  She has a large family who all live in New York.  She especially enjoys spending time with her two sons.  She loves doing homework with her son and playing soccer with him in the park. 

Jenny is the newest member of the kitchen staff.  She is in her first year at St. B’s and is excited to learn how to cook.  She sets up the salad bar and makes the homemade applesauce, a favorite among many at St. B’s.  She helps with desserts and chips in wherever help is needed.  She likes the challenge of improvising and thinking on her feet.  Her advice to anyone starting in a kitchen would be to ask questions if you don’t know something.  When she is not at St. B’s she enjoys listening to music and spending time with her family.  She is one of five children who all live close by, so there is always a family dinner or barbeque to enjoy.