meet the chef: DAVE

Where are you from? I grew up right here in Champaign - Now, I live in a big ol' Victorian house about 25 miles outside of town.
Tell us about your family: They're driving me crazy! Just kidding, just kidding. My daughter is a straight-A student - She's a dedicated dancer, too, so we travel all over for competitions. My twin boys are die-hard basketball players. They've been playing since they could walk! We actually have a full court set up at my house. And then my wife has been a nurse at Carle for the past 20 years. She loves her job.
How long have you been cooking for Chi O's? Since '97. Going on sixteen years.
What's your favorite meal to cook? I love making prime rib. And my famous twice-baked potatoes, too. In the summer, I grill out all the time. I do a lot of slow smoking on the grill and stuff like that. And I feed the neighborhood. We have big Nascar races parties on the weekends and I'm always using the grill.
How did you get into cooking? I actually starting cooking here on campus in '91. Before that I worked for a five-star restaurant here in town. I just love to cook - It's kind of been my thing.
If you could eat just one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? Oh, man, that's a hard one... I really love fruit, it's good for ya. Fruit or vegetables.
Favorite part about being the Chi O chef? Chi O's RULE. This is the best house to work in. You girls have always been so great; I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. When you girls aren't here in the summer, I stick around the Chi O house. I clean, move furniture, and take care of anything that needs to be done. I do it all. You girls get whatever you ask for. It makes my life easier when you girls request meals. You call it, I'll fix it! That's how the whole smoothie thing got going. So now we do smoothies once a week.

Thanks, Dave! You're the BEST.