Last Monday, January 12th, Caden Yang (‘28) walked into the lunch line, eager to try the new Mediterranean Chicken. Despite being let out of class on time, Caden waited in line for a few minutes — only to see that the kitchen had run out of chicken. He ended up eating the two pieces of pita bread he was served and taking a bite out of a friend’s chicken for lunch.
Caden wasn’t the only student to experience this, however. Many students were disappointed to find there was no more chicken, especially after hearing others rave about how delicious it was. So what went wrong? Here’s what the kitchen staff had to say about the incident.
Head Chef Mr. Jason Fleck said, “It was a new dish, and it was very popular. There were students coming back for seconds, thirds, and even fourths.” Every week, the kitchen orders the same poundage of chicken, last week being no different, he explained.
Monday was the first time that the kitchen completely ran out of chicken, because the students (mainly upper schoolers) and faculty had eaten it all.
Jonah Hong (‘28) was lucky enough to have a free period right before lunch that day. After having a plate during middle school lunch, Jonah went back during upper school lunch to get seconds, and then thirds. He said, “I go to the gym every day, so it’s important that I get my protein in.”
Managing how much food to make per week has been challenging. “There’s a very high percentage of student athletes here, and we want to make sure that everybody’s getting enough to eat,” Mr. Fleck explained. “That’s what makes it really tricky, because there’s a fine line between having too much food and not having enough food.”
As a result of all the chicken being devoured, the kitchen staff decided to make a different hot dish for students who were unable to get chicken — ravioli. “We definitely didn’t want people to go hungry, so we just looked to see what we could make quickly because we know you guys are on a schedule,” Mr. Fleck said.
Zack Chen (‘26) and JT Moss (‘26) shared similar experiences with Caden. Zack got to the line at 1:15 p.m., right on time, but was also unable to secure himself a plate of chicken. Instead, using his senior privileges, he drove to the Taco Stand for lunch that day.
JT arrived at the cafeteria five minutes after lunch started because he was on crutches, which made his journey from class “slower and more difficult.” He commented, “It was really upsetting and frustrating, especially because it took extra effort to get there on crutches and I had been looking forward to eating.” Because JT can’t drive with crutches, and he got to the cafeteria before the ravioli was ready, he ended up DoorDashing food to Bishop’s for lunch.
While Monday’s lunch left many students disappointed, Mr. Fleck emphasized the kitchen staff’s care for students and how the shortage served as valuable feedback for the future. “With how popular it was, I think it’s going to be on the regular rotation,” he concluded. “And in the future, we’ll have to order some extra chicken.”
