Culinary Team Continues to Enhance State and National Partnerships

MSU Culinary Services is proud to continuously enhance collaborations with state and national organizations. Over the next few months, several partnerships will bring representatives from Potatoes USA, the Michigan Potato Industry Commission, the Mushroom Council, InHarvest and California Walnuts to campus.

This week we welcome Chef RJ Harvey, the global foodservice marketing manager for Potatoes USA. On Feb. 12, he will compete against MSU Corporate Executive Chef Kurt Kwiatkowski in an Iron Spud Chef Challenge at Holden Dining Hall beginning at 11 a.m. At the Homestyle venue, they’ll feature a potato slider dish with cucumber salad as well as a potato and steak taco. In addition to watching the chefs in action, guests will have an opportunity to sample small plates.

That evening, a takeover of all Brody Square venues from 5-8 p.m. will allow guests to experience an array of dishes, including potato gnocchi, truffle and potato pizza, potato flatbread, potato shawrma and more.

On Wednesday, Feb. 13 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., members of the campus community are encouraged to visit Sparty’s Market to enjoy complimentary samples of roasted yellow potatoes tossed with pesto accompanied by a recipe card. That evening, a pop-up at the Latitudes venue in The Gallery at Snyder/Phillips starting at 5 p.m. will highlight a Pho broth with potato noodles.

The following week, MSU will welcome representatives from the Mushroom Council. On Monday, Feb. 18, all residential dining halls will serve a sustainable blended mushroom burger. Those dining at Brody Square can also see a live demonstration from guest Chef Jehangir Mehta, who places a strong emphasis on sustainability in his food preparation. Named the world’s most sustainable chef by Michelin in 2017, he was also a runner up in The Next Iron Chef.

The following day, Feb. 19, lunch at South Pointe at Case will include Chef Mehta’s blended burger recipe and other mushroom-centric dishes, like an option at Great Lakes Plate and a mushroom pizza. Chef Mehta will also help judge MSU’s Student Spartan Chefs competition the evening of Feb. 19 at Brody. During the event, teams of two students compete in a timed cooking challenge.

Future partnership events are in the works for March and April, including a visit from InHarvest for Whole Grain Sampling Day and from California Walnuts to serve “brain food” leading up to finals week.

In addition to engaging students during these events, the Culinary Services team is weaving in opportunities for staff development. For example, Potatoes USA will conduct an ideation session with MSU chefs on Feb. 11 prior to launching campus takeovers.

To stay current on what's coming up, visit our events page.