Culinary Team
Paul Oesterle • Bryan Haymans • Chris Carreira • Darnell Tate
Bryan Varin • Tim Neal • James Nichols
Shelly Orozco-Marrs
Elizabeth Bentley

Executive Chef Paul Oesterle
Retail Operations and Campus Catering
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I have always enjoyed cooking and began working in the industry when I was in high school. To further pursue my culinary interests, I attended college in Providence, Rhode Island at Johnnson & Wales University. While attending college I worked as a teaching assistant and I opened my own small restaurant. I also gained work experience in Philadelphia at a restaurant called Opus 251. During my senior year of college I travel to Versailles, France where I worked in a restaurant called Les Trois Marches for three months. I graduated from Johnson & Wales University with two bachelor's degrees, one in culinary arts and one in foodservice management. I moved to Athens in August of 2001 to work as an assistant manager at Bolton Dining Hall. On March 1st, 2002 I was promoted to chef of Bolton Dining Commons. Since then I served as chef at Joe Frank Harris Commons, and I am currently the executive chef of retail operations and campus catering.

Chef Bryan Haymans
Bolton Dining Commons
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I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Georgia in 1996 where I majored in Consumer Foods. Upon graduating I headed out west to Vail, Colorado where I attended Johnson and Wales University. Here I was one of only forty people to be accepted to their accelerated program to study Culinary Arts. I graduated culinary school in 1997 with Summa Cum Laude status. While I was in Colorado I worked for Marriott's Vail Mountain Resort as a Line Cook where I learned the basics of becoming a chef. Upon leaving Colorado I moved back to the south where I became the Executive Chef for Harris Teeter. During my two year span as Executive Chef I learned the finer points of organization, time management, managing other employees, and fine tuning my skills as a chef.

After several years of long hours I decided to take a break from the kitchen and from being a chef. Therefore, I came back to the University of Georgia to work as an Assistant Manager for Oglethorpe Dining Commons. Before long my natural calling of being a Chef and having my hands directly involved with food production brought me back into the kitchen. I served as the opening chef for East Village Summit at Joe Frank Harris Commons. I presently serve at Bolton Dining Commons, and I'm loving every minute of it.

Chef Chris Carreira
Commissary
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I began my culinary career at the age of fifteen as a dishwasher at an Italian restaurant. From there I moved up quickly through the ranks. By the time I began my senior year in high school, I had been promoted to Assistant Manager, working and attending school full time. I pursued Italian food for another five years until I decided to learn more about all things culinary.

I attended Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Tucker, GA, where I graduated with an Associate's Degree. It was at that point that I decided to try my hand in the Pastry Kitchen at The Ritz-Carlton, Downtown, Atlanta. After about 18 months, I moved on to The Payne-Corley House in historic Duluth, GA, where I worked my way up to the position of Executive Sous Chef.

I am currently the Chef of the commissary at UGA in the Joe Frank Harris Commons

Chef/Manager Darnell Tate
Oglethorpe Dining Commons
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Food services had been my dream occupation since I was a teenager. But before that dream became reality I took a slight detour, starting with a football scholarship at the University of Maryland. Many years later, I enrolled in the Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts. I attended school by day and worked at the William Penn Hotel by night. On weekends I leased a kitchen in a local pub, working as a one-person staff.

Once my coursework was complete, I moved to Peachtree City, Georgia where I accepted a position as cook at the conference center, becoming part of a great staff and gaining experience designing weekly menus and serving guests from all over the world. Quickly promoted to p.m. Sous Chef, my experiences expanded to include catered weddings, private parties, upscale fine dining, a daily grand buffet, and the Governor of Georgia's Dogwood Ball.

After five years at Aberdeen Woods and one year as unit manager at Waffle House, I found a new home at the University of Georgia. As the Chef at Oglethorpe Dining Commons, I adapted my food preparation skills and talents to the award-wining university's style of service. In addition, I was recently awarded the bronze medal in the NACUFS Chef's Culinary Challenge. In 2008, I was promoted as Chef/Manager at Oglethorpe Dining Commons.

Chef Tim Neal
Oglethorpe Dining Commons
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I guess you could say I started my culinary career at the age of 10. I first learned about cooking as a Boy Scout. I learned to cook in every kind of weather and with every kind of fire. I took a side trip in my culinary career when I went off to college at Central Michigan University; I decided to major in my other passion: Science. After graduating in 1992 with a BS in Biology and spending about 4 years in the field, I moved to Atlanta. I spent about 2 years in the Atlanta area before I decided to pursue my passion for cooking. I attended the Atlanta Arts Institute and enrolled in their culinary program. While going to school, I worked at a small restaurant called the 1848 House in Marietta, as a prep cook. After I graduated from the Art Institute, I continued working at the 1848 House for 5 years, moving up through the ranks to Pastry Chef. I left the restaurant for Aramark, and over the next 5 years I worked through the ranks as cook, caterer, chef and finally as chef/manager of a senior citizens center. When my son was born I took a few years off so I could be a stay at home dad. After 3 years, I moved to Hartwell, GA and began working for Lee Epting Catering as an on-site kitchen director. After two years, I came to work for the University of Georgia as an Assistant Manager at Oglethorpe Dining Commons. As of August, 2008 I have been promoted as Chef at Oglethorpe Dining Commons.

Chef/Manager Bryan Varin
Snelling Dining Commons
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My culinary career began ten years ago as a student majoring in Political Science and Intercultural Studies at the University of Montevallo in Montevallo, Alabama. To help myself through school, I worked as a line cook at a restaurant called the Plaza Café. At the time, I was considering the idea of going to graduate school, but instead my love for cooking and the restaurant business steered me in a different direction. During my last semester of school, I decided that my "graduate school" would consist of attending New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont. Upon completion of my studies, I moved to Portland, Oregon where I fulfilled my internship requirements as a line cook at Higgins' Restaurant and Bar. I spent a year working alongside Chef Greg Higgins, learning the importance of using only the freshest, in season products available to us in our local area. While at Higgins' I also became a member of Chef's Collaborative 2000, a nonprofit organization committed to promoting sustainable agricultural practices and organic farming.

After completing my internship requirements, I graduated from school and relocated to Birmingham, Alabama where I accepted a line cooking position and later, a position as pastry chef at Hot and Hot Fish Club and later as a manager for a small bistro called Chez Lulu in Mountain Brook, Alabama. At that point, I decided to leave the restaurant business for a more "normal" lifestyle and accepted a position as sous chef for Aramark Business Services working under contract with the Boeing Company in Seattle, Washington. Within a few months, I was promoted to Chef-Manager. While working for Aramark, I was offered a position as a chef and production manager with the University of Washington's Food Services Department. Once there I realized that working in educational environment was the avenue I had been looking for. I relocated to Athens and became the Training Specialist for UGA Food Services. After a year in this position I was promoted to the Department's culinary team, where I presently serve as a chef and a manager at Snelling Dining Commons. It is an honor to be a member of one of the most respected and recognized college food services departments in the country.

Chef Shelly Orozco-Marrs
Village Summit
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My mother and grandmothers, all of whom were excellent cooks, taught me their craft, and I learned to love it. After graduating high school, I applied and was admitted to Kettering University in Michigan with a focus on Environmental Chemistry. Though I loved my time there, I soon felt that chemistry was not the right fit for me. After two-and-a-half years at Kettering I decided to leave college and pursue a career as a chef.

I chose to attend Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Academy of Culinary Arts in Punxsutawney. After breezing through the program I began my career at Florida’s prestigious and legendary Boca Raton Resort and Club. During my time there I had access to many talented, skilled, and knowledgeable chefs. My experiences ranged from fast paced resort casual dining to upscale fine dining to high volume, high profile banquets and catering. I also had the opportunity to cook for a few of my favorite celebrities including Adam Sandler, Jose Carreras of the Three Tenors, the late Tony Snow, and my personal favorite, Alice Cooper.

After five years in Florida, my former Executive Chef, the talented James Reaux and one of my restaurant chefs, Bryan Fyler asked me to help establish the Food and Beverage Operations at The Ridges Resort and Club in the northern Georgia / western North Carolina area. During my three years in the Georgia mountains I held the positions of Banquet Chef, Chef de Cuisine, and Executive Chef.

My dedication to quality and working with the best is what brought me to the University of Georgia. I wanted know what it was like to serve 4000-plus customers a day in a modern university food service operation. In July of 2009, I began my new job as the Chef of the Village Summit.

Chef James Nicholas
Snelling Dining Commons
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The love of food and food service was engendered early being with my Grandmother who owned and ran a Restaurant, Tea Shop in Manchester, Georgia. Food Service was my future but first there was the military and the Lamar Dodd School of Art here at UGA, where I earned my BFA in Painting and Studio Arts. After graduation I moved to Florida and worked as an artist. Finding myself with time and a yearning I enrolled in the Culinary Arts program at Ivy Tech in Indianapolis, Indiana. My first job after graduation was as the Chef for the Indianapolis Press Club where I quickly learn how much I did not know about running a kitchen. This lead to several years of training and study with many different styles and kitchens, learning what it really took to do the job right. The result of this being a job as Chef for Marriott Management Services at Indiana State University in Terra Haute, Indiana. With a couple of years of experience and completion of the Master Chef program at the Culinary Institute of America, in Hyde Park N.Y., I become the Regional Chef and found myself out of the kitchen and into an office. This was not why I wanted to be a Chef. I missed the kitchen, food, and most of all the students and needing to be back where I knew I would be happy I have come home to the best, UGA.

Chef/Assistant Manager Elizabeth Bentley
Catering
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After nearly ten years of working with libraries and archives, I decided to pursue my ambition to attend culinary school. I moved back to the Atlanta area and attended the Le Cordon Bleu School of Culinary Arts. While attending LCB, I was awarded with a membership in the national Le Cordon Bleu Honor Society and received the Park Avenue Caf Award from the James Beard Society Scholarship Foundation. While I was in school, I worked for fine dining and catering. For my externship, I worked with the Ritz Carlton Lodge at Reynolds Plantation in both the banquet kitchen and the garde manger kitchen gaining invaluable experience with food preparation and presentation. As a former UGA graduate and now current employee, I am pleased to be back in Athens and working for the University of Georgia.