The Muhlenberg Weekly

Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: News

Zoraida Rivera eagerly begins her new job as Head Chef at the College.

Zoraida Rivera has recently joined Muhlenberg's kitchen staff, working as the college's head chef. Last week several special meals and desserts were presented by her in order to give students a little taste of what's to come.

With such great responses from the wonderful cakes and decedent chocolate treats in room 110 last week, Rivera has some high expectations to live up to.

With her early fascination for food and desire to create new and unusual meals,

Rivera put her talent to the test. She was inspired by her Puerto Rican family's love for food and the importance they placed on mealtime. Everyday they reserved a special time for meals where they could unwind and come together to enjoy a home-cooked meal. Her mother and father would lead her seven brothers and sisters in prayer and then discuss each child's day.

Once Zoraida delved deeper into her interest, mealtime in the Rivera house started to change.

Formerly accustomed to the simplicities of rice and beans, her family was now being served new and exotic dishes. The self taught talent she possessed turned into something more, when she went to college and realized that studying communications was nowhere near as satisfying as preparing a great meal. After receiving her B.S., Rivera chased her dream and attended the French Culinary Institute in New York City.

Rivera started out her career as a chef working at a number of well established New York City restaurants and hotels.

She later relocated to Pennsylvania, serving as the Executive Chef for a restaurant in the Pocono Mountains and then as Executive Chef at a high profile concert hall and family restaurant.

After twenty years of experience in the field of culinary arts, Rivera decided that it was time for a more challenging job. When she heard about the opening Muhlenberg had for its Executive Chef position, she knew it was an opportunity she had to take.

Rivera has many ideas for future meals at the College. Her inspiration derives from her creativity, talent, years of experience, and mindfulness of current cooking trends. When interviewing for the job, Rivera was told that many Muhlenberg students love sushi. This excited her into preparing the dish for the first day of classes.

As she saw the long line of students eagerly anticipating their turn to grab the plate, Zoraida knew that she was off to a good start.

Thinking back to college life at Kansas State University, Rivera notes that the variety of food choices has grown immensely. Whereas before fast food seemed to plague campuses, Zoraida says that now, "The sky is the limit!" Although this creates an assortment of challenges for college chefs, Muhlenberg has nothing to fear. Executive Chef Zoraida Rivera looks forward to dishing out meals that will satisfy the desires of all students and faculty.

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