Submitted by Farm to Cafeteria

The public school cafeteria was buzzing with the voices of 363 students and adults enjoying a savory lunch on Wednesday when Celebrity Chef Madden Surbaugh of the Orcas Food Co-op helped prepare and serve alongside our cafeteria staff.

When asked if they were enjoying lunch, our younger students nodded with wide eyes and large grins. One community member savored every bite of her meal and told our staff, “I was looking forward to this lunch all week! It’s the only spätzles on the Island and I’m sure impressed!” We even received a visit from previous Celeb Chef Charles Dalton and future guest Celeb Chef Raymond Southern!

Fresh hand-made spätzles, tender Jones Family Farm pork and in-house pickled cabbage made by Madden and staff filled all 363 plates. Our wonderful Farm to Cafeteria volunteers helped serve an abundance of chocolate bread pudding, welcome guests into the new cafeteria and restock the rapidly disappearing salad bar.

The previous record of 415 lunches was set last October by Charles Dalton of The Kitchen. In May, our guest Celebrity Chef Raymond Southern of Rosario Resort will have a chance at setting a new record for the number of lunches served in the school cafeteria! Stay tuned, you won’t want to miss out on another delicious lunch.

The Celebrity Chef events are sponsored by the Orcas Island Farm to Cafeteria Program in cooperation with the Orcas Island School District. To see pictures from this event, please view our website http://www.orcasislandf2c.org/