This story is featured in the Spring 2018 edition of the HPU Magazine. Discover below how Chef Christian Froelich provides the fuel students need to succeed.
Students gather around the dining table in the sleek kitchen of Caffey Hall, the newest residential facility on campus. Their teacher is Executive Chef Christian Froelich. His goal is to teach them the art of making dough from scratch.
Froelich knows that dining at HPU is about more than just feeding hungry students. It’s about creating relationships and providing the nutrition students need to thrive.
Sometimes it’s a hot meal on a chilly day. Sometimes it’s a cooking class where students can relax after a long day of exams.
That’s where Froelich comes in. As executive chef, his responsibilities include planning the menus at all 14 dining locations on campus. It’s his goal to make sure students feel educated about the food he serves. Providing gluten and allergy sensitive foods are some of the many ways he ensures everyone enjoys their dining experience.
His “Teaching Kitchens” allow students who may have only seen each other in passing to bond while learning to make meals from scratch with quality ingredients. This creates a sense of community and belonging among students. The classes also provide students, like sophomore Matt Carty, with a culinary skill that they use in their daily lives.
“Chef Christian is a really down-to-earth kind of guy,” says Carty. “He makes the Teaching Kitchen a fun and beneficial experience. I always look forward to working with him.”
It’s important to Froelich to put students first. That’s why he has started an initiative to prepare foods from scratch in the dining locations on campus. He knows using locally sourced ingredients can make all the
difference in providing students with a nutritious meal on campus.
“We serve students every day, so all our customers here are ‘regulars’,” he says.
He has led kitchens in hotels and big cities and operated his own restaurant where he once hosted leaders from campus. HPU’s culture stood out to him and attracted him to be part of the university’s hospitality team
Ask him about his job, and he’ll praise the positive environment on campus that inspires him to be the best every day. It’s what drew him to HPU. Froelich is especially proud to work among upbeat professionals. His staff take the time to build relationships with the students they serve. The students are what inspire him and his team members to strive for excellence.
“It’s not just that we want to be the best at what we do. It’s really who we are. We believe in our mission,” says Froelich.
Students do, too.
Carty always feels welcome at The Point Sports Grill on campus, where burgers, wings and milkshakes are part of the menu, along with open dining space that brings students together for lunch and dinner. It’s his favorite dining location.
“The staff are the friendliest people you will ever meet. They are the reason I always go to The Point,” says Carty. “Every time I walk in, they greet me with a smile, make me feel welcome and are always up for having a conversation.”