Wining and Dining: Chef Brings Flavor to Mason Dining

By Broadside Opinion Columnist Nicole Kukuruda

As mentioned in last week’s article, dining at George Mason University is undergoing some rather significant changes. In addition to extended hours, “going green” and the opening of a new convenience store, Dining Services has decided to vastly improve the quality of its food. Although this fact is hard to believe, our university is finally putting money in the right places to make changes that the students will appreciate and enjoy.

This process is occurring in two basic ways that are having outstanding effects on the quality of dining at Mason. The first catalyst for rampant change in the outlook, quality and value of the food provided was the hiring of Denise Ammaccapane as the director of Dining Services for Mason.

Since Ammaccapane has been working on campus, the visibility and approachability of dining staff has changed drastically.

Ammaccapane can be seen eating in dining areas and personally asking students their opinion on the quality of food, efficiency of the process and desired changes in services provided on a daily basis. She has become a breath of fresh air to the entire dining services division.

Mason’s Dining Services is the hiring of a newly created position, an executive chef. The decision to create this new position was largely a collaboration between Gregg Toney and Ammaccapane. The concept behind the hiring of an executive chef was to better train the workers making each food item, to provide healthier options and to increase the quality of the food being produced. Discussion of duties of the executive chef include teaching cooking classes to students, faculty and staff, providing detailed information regarding food calorie content and cooking in healthier ways and changing the atmosphere of Mason dining from a cafeteria feel to one of a restaurant.

I was invited to the major Iron Chef competition, which was held between the two finalists for the position of executive chef. So, I not only got to taste the change first hand, I had a say in which chef was the right choice at the right time for Mason. In a two day process, I met with several university administrators and staff to taste a four course meal made from a market basket of ingredients. Much like the TV show, the finalists were given the exact same ingredients and told to make three dishes and one cheese or dessert platter. The results of the challenge were rather interesting.

The first contestant made a variety of dishes and expressed an appreciation for ethnic flavors and tastes. His courses included a curry shrimp on saffron rice, a cold sweet and sour pork salad with pineapple and a crab stuffed chicken breast with asparagus and a corn muffin. The second contestant decided to play his menu selections a little safer. His meal included Jamaican jerk shrimp, a balsamic and cucumber salad and spinach and goat cheese stuffed chicken breast with red potatoes.

Although the second chef’s meal had a wider consistency in flavor and taste, the ethnic influence and variety of flavors presented by the first ended up winning out. Despite the fact that the basic and bland flavors of the first chef’s meal were great for small dinner parties at the Mathey house, it was evident that for large scale dining at a school as diverse as Mason, the ethnic influences and flavors would be more appreciated by the palates of the student body. The first chef also used a wider variety of ingredients from the market basket in his dishes and showcased many different flavor profiles throughout his meal.

Luckily, the first chef, Peter Schoebel, has been hired on as the first executive chef for Mason. Schoebel not only created food that I quite enjoyed feasting on, he also has a legacy of superb culinary skill. Schoebel graduated first in his class at the Culinary School of America and has been in the kitchen since 1989. He has worked in a number of restaurants and resorts throughout the country and has owned and managed his own restaurant, as well. The best thing about Schoebel is his outstanding personality and his desire to talk to the students and teach them the fine art of cooking. His knowledge and appreciation of different ethnic flavors also makes him the perfect fit for Mason.

This is the necessary change that Mason students have been craving for years. With the oversight of an exemplary chef and the resources and skills of knowledgeable and capable management, dining at Mason will become something you want to stay on campus to experience. With the opening of the new restaurant, Southside, in fall 2008, Mason dining should be a whole new ball game.