Executive chef brings TV crew to mess hall

A side of The Citadel few people see will be featured on Turner South TV later this spring as a nationally-known chef goes into the kitchen of Coward Hall.

At 4 in the morning not much stirs on The Citadel campus, particularly on a January day when temperatures are hovering just above freezing. Nearly everything on campus is dark except for the fluorescent glow emanating from Coward Hall.

Get closer and it's easy to see that all is not quiet inside. The men and women who feed the South Carolina Corps of Cadets are already hard at work preparing the day's meal.

What does it take to feed 1,900 cadets three times a day in two dining rooms?

Bob Waggoner (left), the executive chef at Charleston Grill, with Aramark chef Mike Jerideau and Cadet Anderson Stewart '03, the regimental PAO. A master of haute cuisine, Waggoner watched Chef Mike fix tubs full of grits. "I wouldn't have any idea how to cook for 1900 cadets," Waggoner quipped.

That's what the cable television crew from Off the Menu, a Turner South network program, wanted to learn when they visited The Citadel Jan. 23. Hosted by Charleston Grill Executive Chef Bob Waggoner, the Off the Menu segment showcased The Citadel's dining service, Aramark, but in particular the people who make breakfast for the Corps. The program is expected to air later this spring.

The day begins at 4:30 a.m. for most of the kitchen crew. There are tables to set, eggs to scramble, grits to boil, bacon to fry and bread to toast. By the time cadets pile into the mess hall at 7 a.m., breakfast is ready.

"It's quite an operation. They've got it down to a fine science," Waggoner said.

Off the Menu Producer Bryan Simmons and the rest of the television crew spent the morning in the mess hall kitchen watching as breakfast unfolded. Later, they toured the campus, observing the morning rituals - guard formation, the flag raising and knobs cleanup and cadet formation in the barracks.

"It goes without saying that we were totally impressed with the level of professionalism and discipline in which the students at The Citadel conduct themselves. We had to keep reminding ourselves that this was a college environment," said Simmons, who visited The Citadel with a five-person camera crew.

Frigid temperatures canceled physical training on this day. But the cable television crew wasn't disappointed. After the quick jaunt around campus, it was back into the mess hall to talk to cadets over breakfast. With sleep in their eyes and still on their minds, the cadets mumble through breakfast as the ladies charged with getting everything to the tables quickly buzz about the room.

In less than 20 minutes the Corps has filed in, eaten and filed back out again to get ready for a day of classes.

"The dedication that we saw in the students definitely shows in the support staff," Simmons said. "The kitchen staff seemed like a well-oiled machine when it came time to getting the students in and out and to class on time. Very cool."