Feature
The Dish on Campus Dining
Peddie Food Service (PFS) garnishes menus with the familiar and the fun
“PFS has the toughest job on campus because it’s the only department that’s critiqued three times a day.”
Peddie Food Service Director and Executive Chef Jeremy Stahl grins when he recalls former CFO Mike McKitish’s assertion — but then, Stahl tends to view his work as a playful challenge. And one could argue that this is the only sane way to walk the tightrope of trying to feed his clientele — about 530 students, plus 200 full-time employees and families, all with varying tastes and needs — every day.
Stahl joined PFS on a part-time basis in 2007 and in 2012, was promoted full time to sous chef. He changed into executive chef’s whites in February 2020.
The hardest part of the job is trying to please every palate, Stahl says. He knows it’s not possible to do every day, but it’s not for lack of trying. The shortest distance between what’s on the daily menu and a happy clientele is accessibility — a concept he goes out of his way to advertise.
“When we do the International Student Dinner (in the spring), I always say to the students, ‘If you’re missing a taste of home, email me, and we will make it,’” he said. “‘If I don’t know how to make it, you can get into the kitchen with me and show me how. Send me your mom’s recipe, or your grandmother’s, or your father’s — whoever’s.’ We have never said no to any of their requests,” he continued. “We usually get a lot in the fall. That little taste of home helps.”
Salty Bite: Robin Wojcik
“Cheryl Jamison was the unofficial basketball coach. She was a fan. I went with her to the games a couple of times, and she was jumping up in the stands and yelling. One day, the team screwed up, and those boys came through the line to get their lunch. And they came up to Cheryl and were hanging their heads and were like, ‘We’re sorry, Miss Cheryl, we’re sorry.’ She said, ‘Do you think the good Lord would give you six-feet-four inches of height and not expect you to jump?’”
A World Kitchen
A key reason for why Stahl and his staff don’t refuse any requests is because sometimes, they miss the mark on what will or won’t be popular with the Peddie community. Why take a chance?
“Once, by the end of the year, three students were sending me weekly ideas, and I’m not going to lie: With one of the dishes, I was like, ‘This is not going to work; I don’t understand it.’ And then we probably moved more of this special than we ever have of anything else.”
Knowing their clientele is from Hightstown as well as all over the globe galvanizes Stahl and his staff to draw from a wide variety of cultural influences on a regular basis. The team regularly hosts dinners that feature a particular cuisine, along with “the most exciting”: a week that showcases international foods.
“We are a world kitchen,” Stahl emphasized. “African cuisine is huge here. Those dishes became some of our most popular ones. And they’re flavors I’d never done. There’s Asian cuisine; we do three different kinds of rice, and are now doing sticky rice every day.” Dishes like this are typically served as blue-plate specials … and Stahl doesn’t miss the opportunity to serve them on ceramic blue plates.
Along with heartfelt appeals for certain dishes, Stahl regularly gets requests to carry specialty oils and sauces. “We have a tray full of different kinds, and it’s growing, getting out of control,” laughed Stahl. “But the students are happy.”
Local-Food Educators
Alumni who graduated 15 or more years ago who visit Peddie’s dining hall may see something that inspires a double take: platters of unusual local fruits or vegetables, beautifully prepared, arranged and labeled. PFS works with purveyors who seek out what’s in season at local farms, in and around New Jersey.
“That really started with (Head of School) Peter Quinn, Mike McKitish and other administrators,” said Stahl. “They told us, ‘regardless of who you are on campus, we’re all educators. There are always lessons we can teach the community — especially the students.’ We really took that to heart, so we took the initiative and said, ‘Let’s find some food that you may not find every day. Let’s talk about it, let’s educate our staff about it.’ We love to create, as chefs and as cooks. And I try to use as much Jersey produce as possible.”
Sweet Bite: Executive Chef Jeremy Stahl
What’s the best part of heading up PFS?
“The cast of characters, especially my co-managers, Pam Houskeeper and Jimmy Hamnett, and my sous chef, Matthew Walker. It’s a we, definitely not a me.
Second best: the kids. To see them excited about food, happy and smiling; seeing a line upstairs before we open the door; coming back for seconds. They work so hard with their studies. It’s not every career that you can see all of your hard work being appreciated so quickly.”
Blue-Plate Specials: A Vanishing Tradition
The “blue-plate special” once symbolized an affordable, satisfying meal — typically featuring meat, sides and a drink — offered at diners across America from the 1920s to the 1950s. Its roots lie in dining at railroad stops, where budget-conscious travelers and workers were served hearty portions on sectioned blue plates.
The concept is believed to date back to 1892, when the Harvey House chain popularized these discounted meals, catering to railroad passengers in the Western U.S.
SWEET BITE: Snack Bar Supervisor James Hamnett
“It’s been an amazing 30 years working for Peddie Food Service and seeing how much the department has evolved. I had the privilege of working with some hard working colleagues over the years, including my mother, Mae Hamnett, who dedicated herself to the success of the department for 25 years.
“Reunion is one of PFS’s greatest days — a day for us to reconnect with former students and reminisce about all the great times they shared with us. They tell us how much they loved our food and that the food at most of their colleges and universities doesn’t compare to ours.”
Addition and Subtraction
Stahl also makes smart ecological choices, regularly recycling and composting. He recently joined Peddie’s Sustainability Committee and has “learned a lot,” he said.
Earth-friendly choices are also included on PFS menus, with a sustainable food distributor providing much of it. And “all of the seafood we get is sustainable,” said Stahl. “Some of it is farm raised, but in an ethical way. We try to play our part.”
BIG BITE: Robin Wojcik
“Tris and Leigh Wood’s oldest, Duncan, would sneak in 10 or 15 minutes sooner than his parents because he wanted to eat cake before they got there. And we knew it, and we’d watch him eat his cake and put his plate on the return, and then he’d be ready for dinner.”
Former Director of Food Service Robin Wojcik
“I was hired in May 1994 and was my predecessor’s assistant for nine years. Back then, we served simple fare — a lot of processed food, not a lot of imagination.
“In 2005–07, there was a whole new crew of faculty and they had a lot of expectations and demands. I’d had it drilled into my head not to spend money. It took me and (then Head of School) John Green and (then CFO) Mike McKitish a good six months to go and spend some money. That was really hard.
“We had 700 people who all wanted different things. So who were we gonna be? Mike and I went to see some other schools, and no one was doing anything that was knocking my socks off. So I wrote a mission statement and a vision statement. And then I sat with the staff, asked who we were going to be, and we’d go from there. We made decisions together.
“From 2007-10, we started to turn things around and got our mojo going. Today, 80–85% of the food is made from scratch.
“When Jeremy got promoted, he was the final help I needed to push through what I wanted to get done before I retired. Now it’s an operation that’s really in touch with the community.”
From left: Peddie Food Service employees Lucy Armstrong and Julie Heymach
PFS has evolved further, providing kosher, halal, vegetarian and vegan options on each day’s menu. And the department is keenly proactive when it comes to food allergies and intolerances.
“When I started here 12 years ago, it was only nut and seafood allergies,” said Stahl. “Now there’s a list of eight or nine items, and we hit all of them.” The PFS staff identifies all menu items that contain allergens and also lists them on a public wall on a large placard.
How is Stahl and his team able to keep everyone’s needs straight? By “communicating with the community – getting to know them,” he said. “Students with certain diets, we will make individual meals just for them – their own fryer oil, their own plates. We want people to feel comfortable, not like they’re singled out.
“It’s about the community.”
SWEET BITE: Robin Wojcik
“Janice Brown was an amazing woman. She retired in 2022. I think she was at Peddie for 38 years. She brought her own sense of integrity to everything she did. She never called out of work — hurricane, snowstorm, whatever. I would watch that woman never miss a trick, never burn anything. It was amazing to be in her presence. And she loved those kids. ‘They’re my kids,’ she would say. She went to the concerts. She went to the Dec Contests. She went to the recitals. She’d be annoyed by something that someone burned and would wrinkle her nose and say, ‘Not for my babies.’”
Student clubs and organizations, like Bon Appétit (left) and the Jewish Heritage Alliance (right), embrace food as a central part of their activities.
Breaking bread and building bonds
For Greg Wriede, director of student leadership and student activities, food is key in fostering community and creating memories. From informal gatherings to campus-wide events, Wriede sees food as an opportunity for students to form bonds beyond the classroom.
“Food drives contact between our students, faculty and community as a whole,” Wriede noted. “Whether it’s a late-night snack in the dorm, an all-school barbeque or our traditional Family Style Dinners, food encourages our community to gather in spaces that foster conversations and connections.”
Wriede pointed out that student clubs and organizations embrace food as a central part of their activities. “Our Bon Appétit Club, for example, has hosted all-school BBQs and other meals for student mental health breaks. Also, our Japanese Culture Club hosted sushi-making, which was a huge hit last year.”
When planning student activities, Wriede always considers how food can enhance the experience. Some recent favorites include waffle fries, grilled cheese nights and nostalgic snacks like Dunkaroos, Gushers and Fruit Roll-Ups during exam breaks. “Food encourages students to show up and stay a little longer, giving them more time to connect with their peers,” Wriede said.
