How long have you been working at the Preserve?
About a year.
Do you have to go through any kind of training to work here?
I mean, not particularly. We don’t have any training classes. Just safety, meetings, things we have to learn about, policies, and how to make sure we don’t make allergic students have tree nuts and pine nuts and all that. We have to learn some safety stuff but most of us have worked food service before.
Who would you consider to be your Bon Apettit best friend and do you guys hang out outside of the Preserve?
Patrick Bright. Yeah, I mean he’s been my best friend since high school, so I’ve known him for like nine years, and he got me this job.
How do you like being around so many college students?
I mean it’s cool, it is just kinda strange. It’s a bunch of people my age that I’m not allowed to fraternize with, so it’s kind of like this odd disconnect of being around people that I normally would socialize with but really can’t. So it’s fun because there are a lot of intelligent people around here that I can have good conversation with, but then I can’t really hang out with anyone. We’re not allowed to hang out with CC students because if there are pictures of you at parties with students, or I mean anything like that, we will get fired.
Describe your favorite customer:
My favorite customer is…um, his name is Chris…I forget what his last name is. He just comes in and will like sit down and chat with us and go buy us things and bring us in stuff. He just talks to us about life in general. It’s pretty cool.
What do you like to do outside the Preserve?
Play music primarily. Ride my bike, go for hikes, climb, usually play music though. Try to get shows lined up and stuff.
Are you in a band?
No, I have my own loop station and stuff. I can like record harmonies and loop my own voice and have rhythms. It’s a midi keyboard controller so I can do like cello pieces so I kinda try and do the one man band thing.
Oh, what is it called?
It just goes by my name Jonathan. I was told by a psychic to use my own name so I was like “Ok, sounds good!” because I couldn’t think of a stage name.
What do you think the Preserve have on Rastall and Benji’s?
The crew, I’ve only heard about them up there, I’ve never worked there. Just from everything I’ve heard, [the Preserve] is spectacular. We all get along really well; there is not so much tension that I have heard that happens at a lot of the other places. And, the food is better in my opinion.
What is the best meal that you have ever eaten?
Best meal I’ve even eaten was in Dublin, Ireland at the Red Bank Inn. The chef had competed on Iron Chef and I guess won so it was, like, this seven course meal. That was pretty fantastic.