COOK GILBERT MANUELL WINS BRESLIN AWARD

Winning the Jack Breslin Distinguished Staff Award was the furthest thing from cook Gilbert Manuell’s mind. What got him there was his positive attitude, his rapport with students, his excellent customer service ethic, and his perseverance to keep learning and growing. But he doesn’t focus on the award – he’s too busy. He’s grateful, of course, and was pleasantly surprised at the nice things his coworkers said about him. But he’s more focused on tomorrow than yesterday.

Manuell learned a lot from other people, and he recommends it as a good work strategy. Before coming to MSU nearly eight years ago, he worked long shifts as a cook at Denny’s for eleven years. The cook he worked with there provided an excellent example. “He told me when you’re in the back making food for people, make the food as good as you can – like you were making it for yourself – even if you’re making something you don’t like.”

When Manuell started at West Circle, he began learning from a new teacher, cook Kevin Krumm. “He taught me how to do things quickly. He didn’t waste time complaining about what wasn’t done or talking about what he had to do; he just did it. He was really business oriented and just came in and started kickin’ it out. I learned how he was so much quicker, always ahead of the curve, so I started picking up all his habits. You apply what you learn; you share things with other people. Sometimes they’ll listen, sometimes they won’t.”

When asked what he likes best about his job, Manuell’s answer came quickly. “It’s the interaction with students.” While preparing sandwiches for students at his station, he makes the time to get to know them and learn what’s happening in their lives. But this doesn’t slow him down a bit. Manuell is known for his ability to take orders from a long line of students, get a dozen or so sandwiches going at a time, grilling, saucing and plating, and during the minutes or seconds in between, he’s paying attention to the students. Why? Because he’s truly interested and he loves his job. That’s why they miss him when he’s gone.

As with any job, there are bad days – like the time a student refused a sandwich because she didn’t like the way it was cut. Another day, Manuell forgot the chicken for a special bagel sandwich they were having. “I had nine people come up to my station as soon as the door opened, and I had to tell them I’d forgotten the chicken and I’d be right back. I ran and got it and started kickin’ it out as fast as I could.” Although it can be hard to find sometimes, we all want good customer service, and Manuell has learned what it takes to please most people. “If they see you working as hard as you can to get their food, they will be more tolerant. If they see you taking a ho-hum attitude, and you act like you don’t care, they’re not as tolerant.”

The future holds much excitement for Manuell. West Circle is considering several options for the café that would expand Manuell’s responsibilities. “I love to try new things, and this might give me a chance to expand into things like soups and chili. That would be a blast!”

Visit Gilbert Manuell this fall in the Landon Café. When he points to you and asks, “Are you down with that?”, just say yes. You’re ordering the special of the day, and you’ll have it in a flash. Enjoy.