JONESBORO — Randy Page has worked odd jobs, served as a consultant for catering companies and has been a personal chef.
However, the role of executive chef for Sodexo at Arkansas State University is a new position for him. He started in April.
A Charlotte, N.C., native, Page started looking nationwide for employment opportunities when the economy began to affect the food industry, he said.
“Sodexho found me and made an offer I couldn’t refuse,” said Page, who earned an associate’s degree from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. “The offer wasn’t just money. This is something different.” Sodexo Inc., based in Gaithersburg, Md., is a food service management company with 6,000 locations worldwide, according to its Web site.
Page said his background is in fine dining and high-end catering.
“This presents some challenges that are welcome,” he said. “There’s the volume and the type of food. It stimulates lots of areas of my career and my interests.”
Page started as executive chef in April, and he oversees some 40 employees.
He usually arrives by 8a.m. and leaves at the end of the day by 6 or 7 p.m. but has stayed as late as 11:45 p.m. He begins each day by checking the kitchen, bakery and dish room, as well as student dining and catering areas.
“There’s always some little fire to put out, some question to answer or some recipe to be given,” Page said. “And I love it.”
He creates all menus for the Acansa Dining Hall in the Student Union, which serves ASU students, and he has a major role in creating catering menus, he said.
Part of his duties have included planning and menu item selection for the new Mexican restaurant in the Student Union food court.
Page also is responsible for food quality, sanitation and food safety, and he spends 10 to 15 hours per week placing orders, he said.
Although he is a chef, not much of his time is spent cooking.
“I actually cook very little,” he said. “I don’t have time.”
At the height of the fall semester the student dining hall feeds lunch to 5,000 a day. Another 300 to 1,000 a day are served at the food court or through catering services, Page said.
When Page started working at ASU, he said he realized some changes were necessary.
“When I got here, I felt like our food quality had a little to be desired,” he said. “We changed some products and brought in higher quality food items. We rebuilt the International Station and restyled it with new ideas that are fresh and exciting.”
Page also was responsible for expanding the salad bar, including replacing imitation bacon with real bacon and increasing the number of salad dressings.
“The best part is trying to get themed menus and ‘taste changers,’” he said, adding that a taste changer entails “a buffet in the middle of the room based on a different theme.”
For example, a Club Med theme featured a Mediterranean menu, and one taste changer featured Indian foods, Page said.
However, some of the favorite foods at the dining hall include fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and buffalo wings, which is “like a shark feeding frenzy” when they’re served, he said.
The chef said he enjoys the position on the Arkansas State campus.
“It’s a fast-paced environment,” he said. “I tend to have a short attention span, and things change here every minute.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 23 on 12/20/2009