Meet Liz Varvaro, FHHS Kitchen Manager!

Interview conducted by Alex MacDonald and Tristan Wood on March 10, 2009

Today, we went to talk to Liz Varvaro, the kitchen manager at Friday Harbor High School to learn more about her job and the Experience Food Project. Upon walking into the friendly kitchen, Chef Andy paused from cutting cucumbers to give us a "What's up?" before sending us in Liz's direction. Liz came to greet us with a smile and cup of coffee in hand. With enthusiasm, she took time away from her busy day to sit down and answer our questions.

First we found out what exactly Liz does for the Experience Food Project (EFP). She is the kitchen manager, and as she puts it, is the liaison between the kitchen here at FHHS and the "satellite campuses" (FHES, Spring Street School, and Paidea). She manages staffing and logistics, as well as monitoring the profits and losses of the program. This includes how much food is eaten each day, how much each meal costs, and what the program can afford. Although she rarely actually cooks in the kitchen due to her jam-packed schedule, Liz said she also can fill in for any of the chefs, if it is needed.

We were interested in finding out more about how Liz got involved with the project. She told us she had been in the hospitality and food/beverage industry since high school. (Before the EFP, she was managing a restaurant in Seattle.) She wanted something different, and the EFP gave her that opportunity. She explained that working in the food industry is all about consumerism and making a profit. But Liz wanted to do something more beneficial for not only the consumers but the entire community and everyone involved. When she moved to the island two years ago, she liked the way the island focused on the importance of community. She began working at Market Chef, where she met Chef Andy and "all the foodies" and later, Chef Tom. That was the beginning of her journey with the Experience Food Project.

We then went on to ask Liz what her expectations were for the EFP. She told us she expected it to succeed, but she knew there would be hurdles to overcome. Liz wanted the program to focus on the people that eat the food, and allow the students and staff to connect with the kitchen and know that they were eating a great, healthy meal. She went on to explain that the program has been an overwhelming positive experience so far.

Liz says the EFP here on San Juan is a launching pad for other possible pilot programs around the state. There are some locations currently being discussed for future programs, but they haven't been revealed to the public yet. She says the island was a perfect place to start the EFP because the community here is very hands-on and supportive, and in return, expects a lot out of the program. Liz knows the EFP is making an impact and that "it is going to succeed." In general, Liz believes the future of the program is promising.

The last part of the interview was to find out more about the energetic and outgoing Liz Varvaro. Her favorite color is green, and she loves the way different shades of green work together. We asked her favorite food, and she quickly stated, "That's such a hard one!" (she is a chef after all). After thinking for quite a long time, she said she loves all red meat. Her favorite animal is a horse, her favorite season is fall, and her favorite drink is coffee. (We guarantee she is holding a cup of coffee right now as you are reading this!) She told us her favorite flower was a heliotrope, because it smells like Dr. Pepper. When she's not in the school kitchen, Liz loves to cook for her boyfriend, who she told us eats a lot :) Other hobbies you might find her doing are golf and frisbee golf, hiking, reading, and occasionally "nerding out on video games."

We really enjoyed chatting and getting to know Liz Varvaro. Every student that eats at FHHS sees her around, and now we all know how big of a role she plays in the delicious Experience Food Project.

P.S. Liz says check out www.experiencefoodproject.org for more information on the future of the program.

The Dining Hall

Cafeteria, Commons, Lunch room, which ever you used to use to describe where we eat lunch gives off the wrong vibe. These words conjure up the image of hair nets, "Fish” shapes, and disgust. And with our new Experience Food Project, we felt it was time for a change. With our menus now including things like lemon and rosemary chicken breast with vegetable medley, and Chicken Pot Pie with mashed potatoes, we felt the title Dining Hall was much more appropriate. It alludes to the new sense of class and sophistication found in the Cafeteria these days. Gone are the days of Sloppy Joes and Meat loaf with meat that no one is quite sure the origin. The cafeteria as we used to know it is a thing of the past and so should the words that used to be used to describe it. So the next time you step through those double doors to enjoy one of the delicious meals, try out something else that’s new: call it the Dining Hall.

By: Hannah Waite, Callie Bartlett, and Dalton Baker

Interview with Chef Andy

1. What made you pursue being a chef?

Andy: I was attending Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, studying natural resource management. To pay for the expenses of college I worked in the kitchen. The chef in the kitchen at my school was attending a nearby culinary school. I got side tracked and ended up going there.

2. Did you go to school for cooking? If so what credentials do you have?

Andy: I went to Grand Rapids Community College and earned a Culinary Arts Degree. Most of what I learned was outside of school. The actual experience of working in the kitchen is where I learned skills and mastered them.

3. What are your favorite parts of working as a chef/ in the dining hall?

Andy: My favorite part of working as a chef would definitely be the creativity. Working with all of the different products in raw form and being able to create them into something pretty unique. My favorite part of working in the dining hall is being able to work with students. Many people don’t realize that their eating habits right now will affect them later. I want them to know what exactly food is and what food is healthy.

4. Is it hard to come up with new dishes?

Andy: We have the month to month menus so I don’t have to make it up that day. The challenging part is coming up with dishes that I can prepare for such a large amount of people coming through the dining hall each day. At restaurants the menu can be longer with many different meals because everybody is getting something different.

5. What is your least favorite part of your job?

Andy: My least favorite part of working in the kitchen would have to be waking up early. I have to get here in time to start preparing breakfast dishes. Sometimes I wake up as early as 4:30, but not always. I do prep work the night before to take off some time in the morning.

6. Do you enjoy working with everyone in the kitchen?

Andy: Yes! We have a great crew working in the kitchen. It is really important to have good connections and have reliable co-workers. Working in the kitchen is fast paced. Especially if you’re working in a restaurant, there are many different meals being prepared at one given time. Here in the dining hall, we are only preparing one meal for the entire school. There are such big quantities of food being prepared that everyone is busy. Everyone has to be working together.

7. What is your most preferable dish to make? Easy/best

Andy: Pasta dishes are the easiest dish that we have, that is usually why we make them on Mondays and students love them. My favorite dish to make would have to be the soup dishes. I really enjoy making different soups. Sandwiches are easy as well, and the ham and cheese ones are pretty good.

8. What is the hardest dish you prepare, if any?

Andy: I would have to say pizza takes the longest so I guess you can say it’s the hardest one to prepare. I have to make the dough by hand and weigh out all the flour and roll it out onto trays. We make homemade sauce and lastly we have to pre-bake the dough. It comes out to about two days to prepare it but it is the most popular dish that we have.

9. Is our lunch count in the morning accurate for preparing a good amount?

Andy: It isn’t very accurate. However, I have come to find out that it is typically off about 80 to 100 students short each day, not only for the high school but the middle school as well.

10. If we were to pay full price how much would a meal really cost?

Andy: It depends on what dish we are making. However, if this food were for a restaurant you would have to pay three times as much as we pay right now. Though, we are not trying to make money we are just trying to get an even price. Sometimes we make a little, sometimes we lose a little and sometimes it’s about equal. There are also the students who get the free and reduced lunches; we get a portion of it reimbursed from the government.



Chef Andy is a very outgoing, friendly guy. We are lucky to have someone that is knowledgeable about food and cares about teaching and helping us learn the importance of a healthy diet. Hopefully, our schools will be able to sustain this outstanding lunch program provided for us.


By Christine GrosJacques and Meaghan McCormick

Eat Real Food

February/25 Three-Cheese Lasagna – Delicious and Nutritious –
That lunch was the Mecca for vegetarian people. The lunch was tasty for me too and I am a well-known meat eater. Lasagna originally contains meat and some people had a little problem with that but overall everybody was satisfied with that lunch. The other part of the lunch was the fruit bar. To everybody’s big surprise the strawberries came back. I heard the people’s satisfied “MMM”s when I was waiting in the lunch line. Everybody loves strawberries. But what about the Cesar salad? We can choose to eat Cesar salad almost every day. I ate that salad for about three month and needless to say I got fed up with it. I don’t complain, I like that salad, but sometimes a salad with a different dressing would be fantastic.

I give 3.9 stars out of 5, because that food was tasty. Over and above don’t forget that it was healthy for you and your environment.

February/27 Chicken Pot Pie
Heaven! That is the best word to describe today’s lunch. One of the most delicious lunches I’ve ever eaten. My only problem is not with the quality, but with the quantity. Everybody gets only one spoon of this amazing food. I could eat three spoons of that but that isn’t realistic with the school budget so I would be very satisfied with two spoon of this. The fruit bar was the same as every day, simply good. We got strawberries again. This food isn’t vegetarian unfortunately; they don’t know what they missed; however vegetarians are more sustainable for the environment some give them some credit.

I give 4.5 stars. I didn’t give 5 because of the small quantity.

March/2 Italian Pasta with Sausage
I was one of the lucky guys who got a little taste from that meal before lunch. Andy didn’t know that we were coming so he had to make pasta for us quickly. Maybe that’s why that pasta was a little bit uncooked. That didn’t matter to me, because I like a little bit harder pasta. As a side note, Italians make their pasta a little bit harder too. So my first thought was that, “Whoa, that is real Italian pasta!” I got lunch a second time later the day and the pasta wasn’t the same. I guess Andy had more time and he did a good job. He cooked the pasta well. It was nice and soft. I guess Americans like their pasta that way better. I think a lot of Americans haven’t tried less cooked pasta. The sauce was full of flavors and you could taste the real tomato in the sauce. I am not a vegetarian so I say that the best part of the lunch was the sausage. I also liked the fruit bar and I tasted the tuna salad also. That was very good however tuna is not my favorite.

I give 4.2 stars. I would give a five if it were cooked less.
Thanks for reading us, best wishes. Miklos Horvath