After 19 years, Terry Stearns, our Executive Chef, is moving on.
We all eat lunch together every day, and many of us eat dinner here too, or pack up a dinner and take it home. You may have heard Omni employees — in person or on The Omni Show — mention how great the food here is. It’s because it is. And it’s an important part of life here.
Even on a tough day, or a busy day, there will be pancakes or tacos or curry or hamburgers, and it’s always so good.
Jane Hall, who is now filling his enormous shoes in the kitchen, writes:
Terry’s gift in the kitchen is evident from the eater’s prospective, but working alongside him in the kitchen brings awareness of a whole ‘nother level in preparing meals. Terry’s knowledge in culinary preparations is vast to the point of disbelief. Along with this comes his persistent improvisation with flavor and ingredients. I have seen him use recipes rarely, if only for bit of reference.
Working alongside Terry has been a real education, one that he gives freely.
Favorite meals? The Grilled cheese with the Scandinavian brown, sticky cheese on Rosemary sourdough! Red Thai Curry! And all the veggie taco fillings — I LOVE those!
He will be missed in the Omni Kitchen!
Terry took his mission — to keep us fed and healthy, to take care of his people — beyond the job description. For instance, when Molly Reed was grieving after a sudden, unexpected loss in her family, he, in her words…
…made me special soup every day for lunch and dinner as it was pretty much the only thing I could get down and keep down. Chicken noodle (obviously), pho, miso… you name it. There was always a bowl on my desk at lunch and dinner. He literally kept me going and prevented me from wasting away to nothing.
We thank him for 5,000 lunches, as many dinners, and even more conversations. We thank him for helping make this a place we love going to every day — for 19 years! And we’ll miss him, and we wish him all the best in the future.
