What's in
your stomach?
 | | Courtney Smith/Arizona Daily Wildcat | A member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity receives a Reuben sandwich cooked by professionally trained chef Armando Duarte, who has been cooking for the fraternity since July. |
| |
The Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity has invested in professionally trained chefs to prepare its weekly meals because it finally has a full kitchen, said President Matt Van Horn.
Head Chef Mateo Otero and his assistant Armando Duarte are graduates of Scottsdale Culinary Institute and have Le Cordon Bleu training, which is a French style of cooking that prepares chefs for working in any full kitchen as well as a variety of styles of cooking, Otero said.
For 15 years, the chapter house didn't have a kitchen, and when it was finally completed over the summer, the chapter's brothers voted to foot the extra bill and hire a chef for "higher quality food," said Van Horn, a senior majoring in marketing and entrepreneurship.
[...]
A typical day for them begins around 7 a.m. when they begin preparing for breakfast. Otero and Duarte's breakfasts include made-to-order omelets, fresh fruit, and sometimes French toast or waffles.
Once breakfast is finished, the men begin preparing lunch at 11 a.m., which ranges from chicken egg rolls and grilled vegetables to Ahi tuna steaks, said Zak Jacoby, an Alpha Epsilon Pi member.
For dinners, the brothers enjoy meals featuring filet mignon steaks or sushi rolls and tempura, Van Horn said.
[...]
Other fraternities on campus do not have professionally trained chefs, but they do have their own versions of a meal plan.
The Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity does not have a cook, but it has a meal plan in which members pay at the beginning of the year. They also order meals from local restaurants like Chili's or Applebee's. The brothers also make good use of their barbecue grill, where they even make grilled pizzas or steaks, said Sigma Phi Epsilon member Jacob Samuels.
While the fraternity does not have enough money to hire a cook, he would rather have their version of the meal plan because they have the freedom to request their meals, Samuels said.
"I prefer our way of doing it because we have some sort of say in what we want to eat," said Samuels, an economics junior.
Yeah, who needs
Cordon Bleu to make a Reuben sandwich when you can have Applebee's, anyway? That's our story and we're sticking to it!
Arizona Daily Wildcat - Frat Chow: Higher prices mean better food - Friday, November 4, 2005
