Former Delaware North executive sous chef at the company-owned-and-operated TD Garden in Boston, Chef Patrick Kilduff took the helm as Executive Chef of Restaurant Associates at the prestigious Harvard Law School in November 2015. Recognized as the nation’s premier foodservice, restaurant and catering company, Restaurant Associates is a subsidiary of Compass Group, The Americas Division, the world’s leading foodservice organization.
You made the move from TD Garden to Harvard six months ago, how are you settling in?
I have settled in very well… I always say cooking is cooking the most difficult thing is to manage personalities the food will never change.
How big is the facility and how many employees do you have on your culinary team?
My culinary team consist of an Executive sous Chef, 2 Sous Chefs that take care of banquets and the other outlets. The facility at the law school has a main dining hall that feed about 400 to 500 students per day for breakfast and Lunch and a Pub that does about 200 to 300 per night for dinner. Also tons of catering and off site events that keep the day very busy. Employees are about 30 on the BOH Team and 15 to 18 on the FOH side
What goes into planning and managing the production, presentation, personnel and financial aspects of the Culinary Program at Harvard Law School?
There is a lot to take in on this. Being new to the company I haven’t really been able to have an impact on the financial parts yet. But for food sourcing making sure I stay true to the local, aspect as much as we can is what drives us to make great food.. Making sure we have production sheets and good communication on what we are projecting that comes in to dine with us. We never want to run out of an item or substitute an item. Although it does happen at times. Keeping up with trending items is another thing that is up and down and what is trending in the US might not be trending herer at the School. For instance we might have heavy volumn on Grilled Chicken for the antipasti bar 1 week then that could fall off and pasta salad might be the following week.
What are some of the most interesting or unique challenges of being an Executive Chef for such a distinguished and well-known college?
Trying to get enough local product in the menu. Sometimes when your feeding the masses it is very difficult to get a farmer to have 100% of the product so working with my venders we work it out the logistics.
What are the school’s core dining philosophies?
Local, fresh, trendy, compostable, recyclable. This is what I try and look for as we design anything
How many dining halls, cafes and restaurants are you responsible for?
We have one main dining hall/café and one pub themed night cafe.
How did you approach designing the dining program? Are you able to create any of your own signature items or incorporate regional and locally sourced produce?
The program has been apart of the school before I got here. The main thing I want is the students to get a well balanced healthy meal and something I can be proud that my team the managers and staff were able to make it happen, I get to create everyday and with constant communication with my vendors to get as much local items as we can bring in.
Learn more about Exectuive Chef Patrick Kilduff at his Chef’s Roll Profile.
