Employee Spotlight: Wrappin’ with Robert Scott
- by Guest
Tishia Baker, Supervisor; Robert Scott, Cook; Arthur Curtis, Cook; and Joseph Jones, Utility at Rob’s 25th work anniversary celebration
What can you accomplish in a quarter of a century? The undergraduate students at Washington University in St. Louis haven’t even been alive long enough to answer that question. But there is someone who can — Robert Scott.
Rob joined Washington University Dining Services in June 1990, fresh out of high school. He became a part of the Bon Appétit family when the company became the primary food service partner on campus in 2000. In his time on campus, he’s seen students, buildings, and concepts come and go.
“I started out at the Bear’s Den. Left there and went to a little spot called ‘Café a la carte’, left there and went to McMillan, left McMillan and went to Hilltop, left Hilltop and went downstairs to the food court, and then came over here [Holmes Lounge],” he told the more than 40 people who attended his recognition ceremony last month in Ridley Hall’s Holmes Lounge. “I’ve been here ever since.”
Twenty-five years after setting foot on campus, Scott is most notably half of the dynamic duo “Art and Rob,” the two cooks who serve up the iconic Holmes Carvery wrap in Holmes Lounge — a bona fide tradition on the Danforth Campus. The wraps are delicious: fresh-carved meats with a variety of toppings bathed in your choice of sauce (you’ll get the “hook-up” sauce if you know what’s good for you) and bundled up in a wrap.
While the wraps are a draw, we’re willing to bet that Art and Rob are what keeps students (and faculty, and staff, and visitors) coming back. In fact, they have their own fan club: the Carvery Groupies. T-shirts featuring “Art and Rob” are coveted mementos that students beg, barter, and buy; these two are like the Rolling Stones of WUSTL Dining Services.
So what makes Rob look forward to coming to work every day for 25 years?
“The main thing — the company is real great. I love working for [Bon Appétit]. But the thing that keeps me coming back to work, with a smile on my face every day, is the students — making sure they come back. Hopefully, I’ll be here many more years, another 25 years or more,” Rob said.
Holmes Lounge holds a special place in the campus history. Built in 1900, it was leased to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company for use during the 1904 World’s Fair and housed the exhibition of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Gifts. Today, it sees the wedding receptions of former students who found love at Wash U., formal receptions for University administrators, and hundreds of students who use the space to study. And there’s Robert. Chopping, wrapping, smiling.
A piece of our own legacy working in one of the most historic buildings on campus – a coincidence? Maybe. A perfect match? You bet.
By April Powell, Bon Appétit director of marketing and communications at Washington University in St. Louis