Food service director speaks at PROBUS
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The PROBUS Club of Aroostook met at Northern Maine Community College’s Reed Commons April 26 and Rob Ottaviano, the food service director at NMCC, was the guest speaker.
Ottaviano was born and raised in New Haven, Conn. and graduated from Johnson and Wales University in Providence, R.I. with a degree in hotel restaurant management. He studied international business in Torino, Italy and worked in the deli, bakery and butcher shop in the family business.
Ottaviano has owned two restaurants in Connecticut for 15 years and ran a lobster bake catering business in Connecticut for 15 years. He moved to Aroostook County in 2004 and worked for Aramark for more than 10 years at all three of the Aroostook County colleges. He has also taught a cooking class for SAGE.
Ottaviano explained his job at NMCC by saying that he caters to the needs of the students, making special consideration to food allergies. He explained that organic and locally-grown products are a very important part of the menu.
He told the 16 members and two guests in attendance that keeping track of food used to minimize waste is an important part of food service and that any food left over is given to a local shelter.
After Ottaviano’s talk, Janet Snow gave the club’s “words of wisdom” from a book of poems. Crepes were served after the meeting with various fillings available.
The next meeting is Thursday, May 21 at 10 a.m. at Reed Commons.
