Amidst the many changes happening around Goshen College this fall, The Record caught up with Garrett Tyk, the new resident director of AVI Fresh, for a Q&A session. Tyk grew up in Rolling Meadows, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, and moved to Fort Wayne when he was 13, where he has lived ever since. He received his B.A. in accounting from Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne and his master’s degree in business administration. Prior to his move to Goshen College, Tyk was the director of operations for AVI at St. Francis University. Before that, he worked with Lincoln Financial Group. Q: What is...

By Jeffrey Moore • September 27, 2012 • Features

AVI Fresh, the food services provider for Goshen College, opened the academic year with significant changes in administration and the Leaf Raker menu. AVI Fresh welcomed a new director, Garrett Tyk, who replaced Bob Rombach. It was the change in the Leaf Raker menu that drew the most attention. Students who went to the Leaf Raker on the first day of classes discovered that several options had been discontinued, including chicken tenders, chicken quesadillas, specialty sandwiches and ice cream. According to Tyk, the menu changed after a meeting between AVI Fresh and Goshen College staff over the summer. They agreed...

By Sammy Rosario • September 20, 2012 • News

Michael Potuck knows from experience that if you want a Happy Dance cupcake, you’d better act fast. His wife, Margaret, is the owner of Happy Dance Cupcakes and employs Michael as her taste-tester. It comes in handy that Michael works at Chamberlin Elementary; the teachers have delighted in trying Potuck’s earliest recipes. “It’s fun to watch people’s faces as they taste the difference between a from-scratch, gourmet cupcake and your run-of-the-mill store-bought cupcake,” said Michael. “You have to make it down to the lounge pretty quick to get one.” Margaret Potuck is a California native who moved to Goshen two...

By Kate Stoltzfus • March 15, 2012 • Features

Upon entering Carnicería San Jose, a small taco joint located at 214 North Main Street in downtown Goshen, Indiana, diners may think they’ve stumbled into the wrong place. From the front door, San Jose appears to be nothing more than a typical Mexican supermercado: visitors are greeted with aisles of dried beans, spices, and poblano peppers. It takes a stroll to the store’s rear section to reveal the mouth-watering truth: Carnicería San Jose is the home of some of the best, most authentic tacos Goshen has to offer. What makes a taco truly great? If you’re a fan of Mexican-style...

By Daniel Driver • November 16, 2011 • Features

  The two men made several loops around the perimeter of the woods before quietly entering under a cluster of hickory and acorn trees. One carried a .22-caliber rifle, and the other trailed behind with a hook to transport the carcasses. Both wore T-shirts. After spotting their prey hiding in the crook of an oak tree, the first man stood on one side with the gun while the second went to the opposite side to coax the critter around for a shot. Though he could barely see his target, the man with the rifle aimed for the creature’s head and...

By Ariel Ropp • November 9, 2011 • Features

The days of “The Rott” are numbered, but not as soon as expected. Recently, ballots were released, students voted and the new name for Goshen College's dining hall was announced: The Hub. AVI Fresh, the food provider at Goshen College, organized a celebratory meal to dedicate “The Hub”. Little did they know, this title was not original to the Goshen College Campus. Sara Alvarez, senior, brought the conflict to the attention of AVI Fresh. As the editor of The Record, Alvarez knew “The Hub” as the location where she spends every Wednesday evening with her editing crew creating the college's...

By Hannah Bartel • October 5, 2011 • News

As any coffee-addicted college student knows, the Brew is a happening place. But it was more than just a hot drink that led over 130 customers to downtown Goshen’s coffee shop this past Sunday. They were there for the curry. Thushan Hemachandra and his girlfriend, Jill Stoltzfus, were the chefs behind the counter, cooking up plates of jasmine rice, chicken tikka masala, potato curry and eggplant curry. For a little over eight dollars, customers could choose between three large-plate options of Sri Lankan or Indian food. Lines stretched almost to the door, with some patrons waiting for half an hour...

By Kate Stoltzfus • September 28, 2011 • Features

Walking through the doors of Westlawn Dining Hall, now catered by AVI Fresh, sophomore Hannah Bartel puts her keys and phone on the table and then takes her usual path to the salad bar. Whether her meal is a veggie sandwich, hummus and pita bread, or perhaps a salad, she does not mind as long as it does not contain meat. Bartel decided to become a vegetarian three years ago. Her decision means being unable to eat many of the main dishes AVI Fresh serves throughout the day. Nevertheless, she finds enough food for meals. “I feel like [AVI Fresh]...

By Kaeli Evans • October 27, 2010 • Features

  Two years ago, Goshen was considering food service companies to contract out its dining facilities.  One aspect that helped AVI Fresh to stand out was its record of sustainability at other colleges and universities.  One manifestation of this commitment is the composting process. Composting, or the recycling of organic matter into fertilizer, is divided into two categories.  The first is pre-consumer waste that is recycled by kitchen staff.  This includes all the food product that does not get served to students, parts of vegetables removed during preparation, bruised or damaged food, and flavoring agents that get removed before serving. ...

By Josh Delp • September 15, 2010 • News

Among the changes that come with a new semester, students may have noticed a few at the Westlawn Dining Hall. There are now coffee pots by the milk station, planned special events, and new menu items and food choices. These changes were made in response to the surveys conducted by AVI and Student Life last semester. “We got about 600 responses and they were mostly positive responses,” said Bill Born, vice president of student life. From these surveys, AVI and Student Life worked together to determine which changes would be made for the next semester and upcoming year. For example,...

By Sara Alvarez • January 20, 2010 • Features

Last Thursday evening in the dining hall, eight Goshen College students raced to be the first to finish a whole chocolate cream pie. All eyes were wide as Zachary Clouse, Billy Funk, Ben Baumgartner, Brian O’Leary, Abe Pauls, Aaron Shelly, Naomi Webster and Heather Zimmerman faced their pies while Chef Jeremy Corson explained the rules of the contest: eat the pie with a spoon, or be more creative, but do it fast. Aaron Shelly was the first to clean his plate, with Billy Funk, Abe Pauls and Ben Baumgartner close behind. Even after eating the entire pie with no preparation,...

By Kelsey Shue • January 20, 2010 • News

The student body of Goshen College wastes about 950 pounds of compostable material every day. This material all goes to a landfill, where the valuable nutrients are trapped among tin cans and sofa cushions, never again to fertilize the earth. Starting next semester, EcoPax, Goshen College's environmental group, will implement a plan to collect this waste and compost it. The four currently empty bins in the Rott's dish return area will be turned into compost receptacles. Signs by the bins will direct all diners to scrape their compostable waste, noting what is compostable and what must be thrown out. The...

By Alysha Landis • December 2, 2009 • News

For the first week of classes, students’ mealtime discussions often centered on opinions about the new food service, AVI Fresh, and all the changes it brought. While many students like the new changes, some do not.  There are a variety of reasons for each opinion. Many students feel that, yes, the quality and variety of food have improved, including sophomore Daniel Gingerich. “Overall,” Daniel said, “I have been favorably impressed with the quality of food in general, certainly in comparison with last year.” “I like being able to count on something that’s interesting at the fusion station, but reliably having...

By Marlys Weaver • September 9, 2009 • Features

Four ducks prepared “a l’orange” simmered in a small apartment stove. Four tables were set with fine dinnerware. For Kevin and Jeannie Koch, it was sixteen of their close friends and their first gourmet dinner party – the first of many to come. “We cooked together when we were dating,” said Kevin. “We’re a well-oiled team.” But the ducks were only a launching pad. For their senior prom dinner, Kevin and Jeannie prepared stuffed trout, fully dressed with head attached. Their second dinner party was Chinese chicken and dumplings, prepared for 20 friends. They would go on to cook dishes...

By Laura Schlabach • February 11, 2009 • Features