A sous chef on the recipe for success in nourishing five decades of Tufts students
Photo: Alonso Nichols
My first day at Tufts was March 21, 1974. I was still a young guy. I had come from Haiti with my family to seek better living, and after working in Boston for a year, I found myself in need of a job, because I had just bought my 1964 Camaro. I took a part-time job at Tufts, the only one that was available, so that I could pay for that car. I never thought that I wanted to be a cook or that I’d be here this long.
The position was called ‘cook server,’ where my main job was to make sandwiches. Once I got used to it, observing the second cook and first cook, I said to myself, ‘I can do that.’
I was always asking questions of the cooks—Why do you do this? Why did you do that? —and learning as much as I could. I was into my job. I would finish one job real quick and then ask the boss, ‘What do we do next?’ When they asked me to do something, I was serious about it, because you have kids here that need to eat and need to go to class. When they come to the dining centers, the students can’t wait. We need to be ready.
I’ve worked in both Carmichael and Dewick in my 50 years here and have worked my way up to the position of assistant sous chef. In that time, there have been a lot of changes. There are a lot more students to serve, a lot more places to dine, and the menu is much richer with lots of different variety: Italian, Mexican, Thai, items from all around the world. But at the end of the day, the menu is pretty much the same. The ingredients are on top, and the method, the way to cook the food, is on the bottom. If you can do that, you can make it here.
As far as advice I would give, I would say, ‘Whatever you are doing, be good at it. Whatever it is.’ That is my motto. So that is what I do. When I do something, I want somebody to try it and say, ‘Oh, that tastes good!’”
—Yves Henry is an assistant sous chef in Tufts Dining and has worked for the university for more than 50 years.
Our Tufts is a series of personal stories shared by members of the Tufts community and featured on both Tufts Now and Instagram.
