A local celebrity chef will be starting out the
Lake Superior State University dining year right with a specially-prepared meal to celebrate the school's newly remodeled dining hall.
Chef Hermann Suhs, known to many from northern Michigan's TV 9/10, also owns the European Café in Cadillac. He'll cook for LSSU students and staff during a grand opening Aug. 30 in the new Quarterdeck dining hall.
The Austrian-born chef apprenticed in Vienna and has worked around the world as a chef, including a certification as a master chef, and a stint as personal chef to the King of Nepal. In Michigan, Suhs was executive chef at Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City before opening his own restaurant.
LSSU food service director Ray Schebel says the renovation of the dining hall in the Walker Cisler Student and Conference Center was formed through student survey and discussion.
"The renovations include improved seating and new cooking and serving areas," Schebel says. "We now have booths in addition to standard tables and chairs, and serving areas that will allow some of the meals to be cooked in front of the students. There is also an area that can be used as a stage for performances during or after meals. We believe it will be a more inviting and comfortable area for our students."
The new food areas include the Italian-style Bella Trattoria, the natural-foods Wild Mushroom, a hot and cold deli called Basic Kneads, international foods at Magellan's, the traditional Flying Star Grill, and the Red Hot Chef, where food is prepared in front of the diners.
LSSU's food service provider, Sodexo, paid for the remodeling as part of a 10-year extension of its contract on campus. Construction took place over the summer.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Ray Schebel, Lake Superior State University
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