Visiting chefs and family recipes offer international flavor to RIT meal options
While pizza, burgers, salads, and subs remain popular choices for hungry college students, there are more options than ever before at RIT dining halls thanks to ethnic dishes brought by visiting chefs and family recipes from staff. “The visiting chef program continues to bring exciting new flavors to campus,” said Herlan Manurung, corporate executive chef and associate director for RIT Dining. “Each visiting chef contributes something new, building on the diverse options our community has access to.” The visiting chefs, nine this semester, rotate among the Ritz, Kitchen at Brick City, and the Café and Market at Crossroads for lunch and dinners during weekdays when classes are in session. “This program also helps our staff learn new culinary techniques and recipes that these restaurants offer,” Manurung said. “Our community comes from different parts of the United States as well as many international countries. By offering a variety of food as well as foods from different cultures, we are hoping to make them feel at home.” Ike Ansari and his cousin Yasin Rao were the first visiting chefs at RIT in 2004, when they brought food from their nearby restaurant, Pakistani House, to campus. The reaction was so good that they eventually closed their restaurant and began P.H. Express to focus on providing more than 1,400 lunches and dinners a week to RIT. Using recipes from his mother and wife, Ansari serves four Halal dishes from Pakistan and India, including his most popular, tandoori chicken with barbecue curry sauce, and vegetable biryani. Each day, he’ll cook up 60 pounds of rice and 120 pounds of chicken, place it in hot boxes and transport it in their van to campus. It’s not uncommon to find 15 to 20 people in line waiting for them to open. “Our food taste is not typical of a restaurant,” Ansari said.
Peter Schuck/RIT Sous Chef Kenny McNair provided recipes from his late grandmother’s Puerto Rican dishes for the International Bar at Gracie’s. Employee family recipes are just one way RIT is offering diverse menu items.
While Ansari has heard many international students say the food reminds them of home, 90 percent of his customers are not of Pakistani or Indian heritage, he said. Luis Tejeda, who owns D’Mangu restaurant in Rochester, has provided Dominican lunches and dinners five times a week on campus for about 12 years. “Everything’s authentic and seasoned specially,” he said, as he and his cousin, William Del Rio, served hungry students at Crossroads. He posts two small flags from the Dominican Republic, his native country, on the counter when he’s serving. “Where else are you on campus?” asked one student. “Your food is the best. Your pulled pork is terrific.” Chefs specializing in dishes from Nigeria, Korea, and Peru, as well as chefs specializing in sushi and macaroni and cheese (gluten-free or with barbecued chicken and bacon if desired) also partner with RIT, and more may be considered. The diverse menu options don’t always come from off campus. Some recipes are from current employees. Kenny McNair, a sous chef at Gracie’s, stepped up to provide recipes of dishes his late grandmother, who was born in Puerto Rico, used to make. Now her pink beans and rice, plantains, salsa verde pork, tuca en escabeche, and pollo guisado chicken are featured at Gracie’s Latin Bar, which rotates each semester at its international station, along with Indian, Southern, and Caribbean offerings. One student who ordered the beans and rice said she enjoys trying all of the different options as opposed to eating the same thing every day. “It makes me feel good. I’m glad people are enjoying it. It’s all about the enjoyment of eating,” McNair said.
