Northwood has had many cooks come and go, though we now have a great team that is hopefully all here to stay. Our chefs work just as hard as any teacher or coach, and are just as important to every student’s success; yet, they don’t receive the same praise and credit. In this inaugural article of Chef Spotlight, you will get to know Chef Patrick.
Chef Patrick. Photo by Gavin Kruger ’26.
Do you have a favorite NFL team?
“I’m a [Tennessee] Titans fan, unfortunately – It’s been that way since I was 7 years old. When I was a kid, I really liked Eddie George and Steve McNair; I really liked some of their old-school players. But I also really liked their uniforms, and on top of that, I was given number 27 on my first flag football team, which was Eddie George’s number and also my dad’s birthday (February 27th).”
Who’s your favorite Titan of all time, and your current favorite?
“Right now, it’s tough to have a favorite player because the team is so bad, but I’m really excited for Cam Ward. I think he has the potential to become something special. Of all time? Eddie George. I have to mention Derrick Henry because of how good he was for a while, but yeah.”
What is your hidden talent/a hobby that people don’t know about?
“A hobby of mine that I picked up is disc golf. I picked up a few years ago, I used to be a golfer – I still have my clubs, actually – but disc golf is just kind of my thing now. I mean, it’s free at most places, and I just get to go out with my disc and play; it’s awesome.”
What is the hardest part of cooking for so many people, and what is the most rewarding part?
“The hardest part is getting the food out right. What I mean by that is that you don’t want to make too much food and end up with waste, but obviously, it sucks when we run out and you guys are coming up for food, and we have to say, ‘Hey, sorry, we ran out.’ That’s always a bad feeling. The most rewarding thing is when we do take the time to make something nice, and you guys keep coming up and are like, ‘Hey, this is awesome,’ or ‘This is great,’ that always feels awesome, that’s definitely the most rewarding part.”
Interesting fact
During our chat, Patrick touched on his time as a “short order” cook, as well as his experience working at local steakhouse, Smoke Signals. “A short order cook is a cook who works in traditional restaurants; traditional being restaurants that you go to eat at for a night out. You sit down, order food, and it comes relatively quickly, right? That can be a lot more difficult; having the ticket machine go off every 5 seconds is pretty stressful – it’s a relentless job on busy evenings.
