The chime of the lunch bell still echoes in the hall when the first frantic student hits the cafeteria door. Boys and girls alike are hot on his heels, all angling to get to the lunch line. Teachers and staff — typically respectful of “first-come, first-serve” — exert executive privilege and elbow their way to the front. All want to be sure they get their serving of today’s menu.
就像一个场景 奥利弗, the first child hands his tray to server Rita Madera and says eagerly, “Tikka, please.”
“不管有没有na 'an?丽塔问.
“哦，请给我. 与!”
于是，每月一次的印度烤鸡沙拉热潮开始了.
How did an Indian dish become the favorite food at a school founded by Scots-Irish Catholics?
这是Peter Radjou.
Since 2012, Peter has been raising the bar and children’s palettes as 10betapp体育官网学校 chef. Beef lomein, baked rotini, stir fried pork — and of course the 切成小块 这些都是彼得的日常菜单. 即使是充满挑战的大斋节, when many Catholic schools default to fish sticks and fries, 发现凯尔特学生正在享用莳荽皮鲑鱼, 龙虾酱焖罗非鱼, 虾奶和克里奥尔虾饭.
Though he has cooked in hotels and cruise ships all over the world, 在马里兰州和华盛顿州开了餐厅, D.C., and today owns with wife Sara the popular Taaza Restaurant in Grandin Village, 彼得坚持, “这是我最好的工作. 这是上帝赐予我的. 我在这里比在其他任何地方都更满意.”
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Until 2012, serving lunch to Catholic school kids was never in Peter’s career plans.
烹饪学校的毕业生, Peter began his career working in hotels in his native India and the Republic of Maldives. From 1989 to 1992 he worked in the kitchens of Carnival cruise ships sailing through Caribbean islands and off the Mexican coast. In 1992 he married Sara, who dreamed of moving to the United States. 先是在马纳萨斯，然后是马里兰州, Peter and a partner opened restaurants in College Park and Washington, D.C.
In 2002 Peter moved to Roanoke to start a contract operating Elephant Walk in the Tanglewood Holiday Inn. A year later, Sara and their two daughters, Cathy 和爱丽丝, joined him. In 2006 Peter decided to open his own Indian restaurant, Taaza, on Franklin Road. 他让萨拉来处理这件事，这使她大吃一惊.
“我在印度当过幼儿园老师, but when we moved to Roanoke I was working for NBC Bank and Suntrust,她笑着回忆道. “Then Peter one day says we’re going to open Taaza and I’m going to manage it. He says, ‘What you do at home you’re going to do there.’”
For a few years, the restaurant business was good for the Radjous. 所以他们很放心地招收了凯西, 然后是一个11年级的学生, 和爱丽丝, 六年级时, 在10betapp体育官网堂. Friends at Our Lady of Nazareth had encouraged them for some time to do so.
“We didn’t like the way the public schools were going,” says Sara. “Only doing SOLs … and the friends’ circles … the dress code. But the main reason was we both had Catholic school for our education. We knew how Catholic education worked and we wanted our kids to have it.”
但是大衰退, coupled with a troubling catering contract Peter had entered into with a local country club, 密谋制造2011-12年, 用彼得的话来说, “我们一生中最糟糕的一年.他的餐馆损失惨重. 他放弃了对大学公园和D.C. 餐馆，他现在的前商业伙伴.
“We wouldn’t wish our worst enemies to go through that,” says Sara.
因为生意失败而心烦意乱, 有一天，彼得来到了拿撒勒圣母, kneeling before the statue of Mary and praying the Rosary through tears streaming down his face. “为什么会发生这种情况?他一遍又一遍地问自己.
他念完了玫瑰经, got into his car and picked up his cell phone to discover he’d missed a call from Roanoke Catholic. The voicemail was from Patrick Patterson, principal and head of school: “Mr. Radjou,” the message began, “I understand you’re in the food and beverage business. 我想跟你谈谈我们这里的一个空缺职位.”
在讲述这个故事时，萨拉现在是哭泣的那个人. “我们这样做是上帝的计划.”
并不是所有的家庭成员一开始都喜欢这个消息. “我的第一反应是，‘哦，不!’”当时还是七年级学生的爱丽丝说. “‘Now there’s going to be someone there who is going to be looking over me, 谁会和我所有的老师谈论我.“但一旦他开始做饭，每个人都喜欢他. 很高兴他能来.”
学校也有同样的感觉. “We’d never enjoyed a consistently profitable cafeteria until Peter Radjou,帕特森说。. “他对客户服务的了解, 尽量减少浪费, and the dining industry in general has led to Roanoke Catholic having a fabulous cafeteria.”
More importantly, Patterson notes, the Radjous are a witness to faith. 虔诚的拿撒勒圣母教区居民, the Radjous each Christmas season prepare a holiday feast for homeless men, 妇女和儿童的救援任务. Every Tuesday, both Peter and Sara pray the Rosary in the St. Andrew’s Church chapel before filing into the sanctuary with all RCS students to attend school Mass. “We want our children to see our employees and support staff at Mass demonstrating their faith,帕特森说。.
Peter is also the first call for Roanoke Catholic catering or fundraising events: Book Fair dinners supporting the library; the school’s Donor Appreciation Reception last fall at Center in the Square; Lenten fish fries and St. Patrick’s Day Dinner for the Ancient Order of Hibernians; bitty basketball awards breakfast; Thanksgiving pie sale for the swim team; and on and on.
“作为一名家长和志愿者, 没有比这更真实的了, 勤劳善良的人,芭芭拉·安第斯说。, 谁主持学校的书展. “他们是罗阿诺克和我们学校的财富.”
The Radjous also host fundraising dinners at Taaza (which in January relocated to Grandin Village), 将收益的一部分回馈给学校. And Peter is leading two weeks of culinary camps this summer for middle and high school students as part of RCS’ first-ever summer camp program.
彼得说, “当我处于人生最低谷的时候, 学校帮助了我, 所以我想永远回报学校.”