Chef Profile: Andy Nowak

Most aspiring chefs dream of opening of fabulous restaurant, or working under great culinary masters. The story usually starts with the same beginning: going to college and washing dishes to make some money, then realizing cooking is their passion and ditching school to fulfill their destiny. Sadly, for most young chefs, these dreams don’t often come true. Most become jaded line cooks or leave the profession completely.

When cooking professionally didn’t work out the way he had pictured it, Andy Nowak didn’t give up. Instead of leaving food behind completely, he left the kitchen. Andy is the chairman for the nonprofit organization Operation Frontline, whose mission is to end childhood hunger by teaching nutritious cooking classes to low income families. The goal is to teach good shopping, cooking, and eating habits to parents and kids, starting lifelong routines.

Food doesn’t grow in grocery stores though, so Andy’s second passion is teaching gardening practices to kids as well. He is a key member of the Denver Slow Food t Chapter, which has started gardens at 27 Denver area schools. From planting seeds and learning how plants grow, to harvest and cooking, Andy makes sure kids understand the whole process.

Andy Nowak doesn’t have a degree in elementary education, or even a completed culinary arts degree. In fact, his story begins with that familiar beginning, dishwashing. Born and raised in Iowa City, Iowa, Andy began working as a dishwasher at a local country club one summer. Within three weeks he had moved up to salads, and eventually worked his way through all the stations. In college, he simultaneously earned a PhD in Psychology and worked as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. After graduation, he moved to Pittsburgh with his wife and interviewed at 19 universities for a teaching job. No one was hiring.

So at age 32, Andy decided to make a bold move and enrolled in culinary school–the International Culinary Academy. The curriculum was geared towards hotel kitchens though (not Andy’s cup of tea), so he dropped out. He didn’t have as much trouble finding work this time around though, and apprenticed at three fine dining restaurants and a Jewish bakery. Andy then moved back to Iowa City for a couple of years and was a successful personal chef for 15 families.

When it came time to move again, this time to Denver, Andy decided to go back to the kitchen, working for someone else. While working at Strings, owner Noel Cunningham introduced Andy to Operation Frontline, a small organization teaching only 20 nutrition classes a year. A perfect outlet to utilize his passions for cooking and his talent for teaching, Andy became a chef educator. The Strings gig didn’t last long, but Operation Frontline did. He has taught 15 of the six week courses in the past seven years, an astonishing feat.

Meanwhile, Andy got involved as a teacher’s aide at his daughters’ school. He spearheaded a vegetable garden project, planting salad greens and peas. It was a success! The teachers and students loved the hands-on learning, as well as getting to eat, literally, the fruits of their labor. Shortly after that, Andy read an article in the Denver Post about Slow Food, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect the heritage of food, tradition, and culture in an eco-friendly way. This philosophy was directly in line with Andy’s, so he contacted the organization and the garden he had started soon became the 4th addition to the Slow Food recognized projects.

A chef at heart, Andy decided that understanding where food comes from wasn’t enough, cooking had to be involved somehow. One of his early endeavors was a three day beef stew making project, modeled after a Box Car Children story. One year, an especially ambitious project was a three sisters garden (an ancient gardening technique planting corn, squash, and beans together). The garden was planted in the spring with 4th graders and harvested in the fall with the same group, now 5th graders. The project culminated in a huge Native American style feast, including wild rice pancakes and donated bison, in addition to the three sisters’ bounty.

A roadblock came up a few years ago when Denver Public Schools Risk Management decided to outlaw cooking in schools. Apparently, there had been a fire code violation when a teacher fried donuts on her paper-covered desk. Andy wasn’t discouraged, and worked with the fire department to become one of the only sanctioned organizations to cook in the schools. Modifications included fire safety training, and induction-cooking tops for demonstrations allowed only in the cafeteria.

Parents and teachers support the Slow Food education, because of its emphasis on science (planting the seedlings and watching them grow), physical activity (maintaining the gardens), and even business, as some of the schools hold a farmer’s market in the fall. Other topics of discussion include seasonality, local agriculture, and organic versus conventional produce.

What’s next on the agenda for Andy Nowak? Changing the DPS school lunch program. He realized that kids were receiving information about healthy fruits and vegetables and scratch cooking, but were being served garbage for lunch. After research and meetings with the school district, it was revealed that the food cost budget for each child was $1.00, and over half of these students were low income and on the free or reduced lunch program. None of the food served to students is cooked on site, as the kitchens just aren’t equipped to accommodate scratch cooking.

Once again, Andy did not let an obstacle get in his way, and fought for change. After many meetings and grant applications, the Denver Public School has been awarded a $50,000 grant to use over the next 18 months. Looking at food procurement and how to utilize the buying power of 70,000 students are some of the key goals in the next year. A focus on vegetables, fruits, beef, bison, chicken, and whole grains from local sources will start to move the school lunch program in the right direction. Andy knows this grant money will run out, and is not a quick fix, but an opportunity to implement change.

Andy has successfully chosen his own destiny. He knows what his passions are, where his talents are best utilized, and most importantly, never gives up. When he sees a hurdle in his pathway, instead of backing down, he charges ahead full speed.

If you are interested in Slow Food, please visit www.slowfood.com. If you would like more information or to get involved with Operation Frontline, please visit www.shareourstrength.org.