Year One

TonyWelty(TA)-1

From the desk of Tony Welty, Director of Finance & Operations:

“The first year is always the most difficult.” So said one of Flik’s Regional Chef Managers, David Langenstein, during his recent visit to The Brook Hill School. David oversees the food operations in sixty different schools throughout North Carolina and the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. According to David, one of the most difficult tasks in year one is acclimating to the culinary climate of each school.

Much like a family, a single meal served to five different people typically elicits at least two or three variant responses, everything from “that was the best meal ever” to “I pray I never see that dish again.” Same meal, different perspectives. In our case, each daily menu offering at Brook Hill falls somewhere on the spectrum of being savored or excoriated by upwards of five hundred different people.

A challenge Flik faces every day is discerning the flavor and taste preferences of our community and matching those preferences with their commitment to serving fresh, healthy food. Given this is year one, we can expect to see more alignment between what is being served and what a majority of our students prefer to eat as the year progresses.

Part of Chef David’s task over the past couple of days has been working with Shirley Wood, our own Chef Manager, to evaluate and modify our Upper and Lower School menus in order to better meet the desires and expectations of our students and faculty as best we can. I’ve seen these modifications and I trust you’ll be pleased with these new menu items and a renewed focus on serving healthy and delicious food.

If you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected]. Shirley Wood, our chef manager, is also available. You can reach her at [email protected]