Chicago restaurateur transforms Los Gatos High School cafeteria
LOS GATOS -- At a school in Los Gatos, a professional chef is helping move the school's cafeteria away from a "heat-and-serve" model to operate more like a restaurant
When Chef Paul Boundas cooks for 900 students at Los Gatos High School, everything is made from scratch.
Chiles, spices and apple cider vinegar are all mixed in with fresh pork shoulder to create homemade chorizo. It's a drastic departure from the processed, frozen, heat-and-serve foods the school used to make.
"We like to call it a restaurant inside of the school now," Boundas said.
Boundas runs the school cafeteria like he runs his own restaurant, using skilled cooks, original recipes and fresh, locally-sourced ingredients. Even the pizzas are made from scratch.
"The dough, the sauce; everything's homemade," Boundas said.
And that's just a small taste of what his kitchen and staff are up to. The chorizo will marinate overnight for tomorrow's breakfast tacos.
Other items on the menu are crepes, avocado toast made with fresh baked, hand cut loaves and fresh fruit cups. Plus big burritos filled with beans, rice and barbacoa, stir fried noodles and veggies and fresh chicken in barbecue sauce.
There are also full turkeys and beef roasts coming out of the ovens that will be used to make a variety of different dishes during the week.
"It can be made into anything. We have a product that's better and it's better for you," Boundas said.
For decades, Boundas and his Country House restaurant has been a fixture in the Chicago area foodie scene. But he recently branched out into food service consulting. And is now transforming school cafeterias into scratch kitchens, and it's not just for the rich.
"We do this in Chicago, in schools that are 90% qualified for the national school lunch program and the schools come out financially better," Boundas said.
The Los Gatos-Saratoga High School District signed Boundas to a $160,000, 1-year contract. That raised eyebrows among some public school officials, even in this wealthy area.
"Paul is funded in part to train our staff. But in the model, you eventually don't need someone like Paul. Because once you've trained your staff, you can actually transfer the model elsewhere," explained Assistant Principal Kristi Grasty.
Under Boundas' guidance, the classified kitchen staff are learning new methods that will stick with them even after his contract expires.
And in some ways, the school is saving money. They're staying in house for catering events. And all that homemade pizza?
"We used to buy Round Table pizzas at $12 each. Now we're making them for about two or three dollars each," Boundas said.
But all the changes wouldn't be worth a penny unless the customers are happy. Students who may have avoided the cafeteria before now race to it and form long lines that snake outside the building.
They say they can taste the difference.
"I started here my freshman year, and I can definitely see a quality change in the food," said student Brianna Benitez-Martinez.
But it's also good for them. And that might make them healthier and better students.
"The food is really good. It's free. You can't get any better than this. You got your protein, you got all you could ask for," said student Justin Mazzaferro.
Boundas says he's getting interest from other school districts in San Mateo and San Benito counties.
And with California's Universal Meals program which now requires schools to provide breakfast and lunch to all students for free and pays for school kitchen upgrades and staff training, programs like this could go from novelty to the norm.
