---
title: "What it Takes: New Dining Hall Dishes"
date: 2023-10-13T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/what-it-takes-new-dining-hall-dishes"
section: Articles
---
# What it Takes: New Dining Hall Dishes

*October 13, 2023* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/author/karen-shih)


> From Viral TikTok Recipes to Decades of Curry-Cooking Experience, UMD Chefs Draw Widely for Inspiration

*Dining Services Yahentamitsi 08162022 JC 2242 1920x1080 — UMD Dining Services cook Conseuelo Orellana serves up food at Yahentamitsi. She's one of 1,500 employees who serve up delicious favorites and intriguing new items across campus each day.*

Are you delighted by the dal at Yahentamitsi, smitten by sizzling stir-fry at South Campus Dining Hall or hankering for hand-cut fries at 251 North?

You can thank the “best culinary staff” Senior Executive Chef John Gray has ever worked with at [UMD’s Dining Services](https://dining.umd.edu/)—a team that’s taken him 14 years to put together.

“When I first got here, everything came out of a box in the freezer,” he said, laughing. That meant his employees had a steep learning curve. Rather than just heating dishes in the oven, they had to be taught how to cook them. “I’d have to stand there and physically make things with them. But now, we can throw them a recipe and they’ll say, ‘I got it.’”

Gray oversees 1,500 employees, including cooks, bakers and clerks, across the three dining halls and catering services. They’re excited to debut new recipes this year, drawing from their own cultural backgrounds as well as popular food trends. Executive Chef Mike Norman runs the team at [Yahentamitsi](https://today.umd.edu/new-dining-hall-name-unveiled-at-ground-blessing-ceremony), UMD’s newest dining hall that opened in Fall 2022, and across campus, they serve about 25,000 meals per day.

Both have strong professional pedigrees. Gray, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, came to UMD from high-end hotels and casinos. Norman, a graduate of the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute, cooked for Congress and at embassies before arriving at UMD in 2019.

“Being here as given me the freedom to create and test all kinds of different foods,” said Gray. “We can take a station, make a decision, and throw it out there to students and see what sticks, because they’re open-minded.”

Gray and Norman explain how the pandemic paved the way for authentic pakoras and curries; what they learn from empty (or not so empty) plates at the dish return stations; and how they make sure students with allergens can stay safe while trying new dishes.

**Gray:** Until we started Yahentamitisi, most of the menus were written by me, with some input from the chefs. These days, anybody on the team can throw ideas out. I walk through the three dining rooms at least twice a day, and they’ll catch me and talk about it. Then we have to discuss what station it could be served at, what products we need and we work through that process.

**Norman:** One of the first guys we hired after many longtime staff transitioned out during COVID was Edbin Gomes. He’s been a curry chef for, like, 50 years. Initially, he was just one of my cooks, learning the menus, worked really well, got a lot of respect in the kitchen. Then, when we were setting up Yahentamitsi, he was so vocal. He brought out his book of recipes. My No. 2, Tally Rao, the production manager, she’s from India as well, so she’s overseeing it. Now, Edbin has brought other Indian American cooks to work here as well. They’re creating the most authentic Indian food you’re going to find—we even have guys making pakoras from scratch, frying them here.

I had a student come up to me and say, “This dal is just like my mom makes it at home.” We’re doing something that makes someone feel more at home. Every dish we do has the opportunity to touch a student in that way.


*Students walking around and sitting at tables at Yahentamitsi dining hall*


*Baked goods with an allergen warning sign*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [Food](https://today.umd.edu/topic/food), [What It Takes](https://today.umd.edu/topic/what-it-takes), [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)


**Units:** [Dining Services](https://today.umd.edu/topic/dining-services)