with Chef Darren Worth
Darren Worth is chef de cuisine at McNutt Dining Hall, which serves 5,000-6,000 students a day from ten stations during the academic year.
During his 14 years with IU Dining, he has designed and launched numerous dining locations. At McNutt, this includes a pasta bar, sandwiches, comfort food, desserts, soup and salad, breakfast, pizza, Asian fusion, burgers and chicken, and Free From IX, where all dishes are prepared free of the nine most common allergens.
Follow his campus cooking adventures on Instagram: @chefdarrenatiu.
1. What inspired you to become a chef?
When I was 14, I took a job at a local fine dining restaurant in Connecticut as a dishwasher. On Sundays, I would work with the sous chef. He would bring me up on the hot line and teach me how to cook. I did that from age 14 to 17, when I got out of high school. Later, I trained at Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island.
2. Where else have you worked before coming to IU?
I worked at various large hotels all over the country. I was kind of known as the ‘fix it’ guy. Different hotel chains would call me and say, ‘We need you to come fix this hotel.’ I always knew I was coming into a train wreck, so I just started from scratch and rebuilt it all—procedures, sanitation, inventory, labor costs, just everything. Gut it and start from scratch. I usually worked six months straight just to get it all in order, and then I would hire a chef and new staff and train them on all my procedures. Once they were ready to go, I would move onto another hotel. I did that for 12-13 years straight before coming to IU.
3. What do you enjoy about working at IU?
When I came to IU, I started at Wright Quad, but as they started opening new locations, that’s where they would put me. I enjoy the challenges of this process. We opened Forest, then I went to Wright Quad after the renovation, then I helped open Bookmarket, Goodbody, and McNutt. It’s fun, time consuming, stressful, but very rewarding. McNutt was a whole different monster – this is the biggest location on campus, and we feed the most people on campus right now. Overseeing the volume of recipes we produce daily is very rewarding.
4. What does your typical day look like?
Every day is very different, but I always start at 6:30 a.m. I think through various recipes and menus, review allergens in products, rotate through multiple concept lines, and work in the McNutt prep kitchen to write lists and schedules.
5. What is one of the biggest challenges you face when overseeing McNutt?
After the pandemic, it took a while for product supply chains to return to normal. This has greatly improved in the past couple of years. We often need to onboard new employees in the middle of a rush, so we also work hard to ensure all staff are aware of food allergy safety protocols. Every day brings different challenges, and we always find a way to work through them.
6. What advice do you have for students with special dietary needs?
Bring your request or concern to me or one of my chefs and we will accommodate you and make sure you’re eating in a safe environment.
7. What are some favorite recipes you have developed for IU Dining?
There are too many to list, but a lot of my favorite recipes at Spice Road are old Traveler recipes I made. I started the Traveler concept at Bookmarket and Goodbody; it was international food that switched every day. We featured food from about 13 different countries. It involved a lot of research and finding different products that were specific to those areas.
8. What kind of food do you most enjoy cooking?
Classical French is my training, but I enjoy Korean, Japanese, and Chinese food. They have a lot of neat ingredients in their cultures. The way they do things is very traditional.
9. What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Going to farmers markets and traveling to new places with unique stores and restaurants.