They pick up the scent from over a mile away and within minutes, arrive hungry and ready to feast.
No, this is not a scene from Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week.” It is lunchtime at City Cafe and City College Executive Chef Robert Burks is the source of the feeding frenzy.
Burks entered the food industry at age 16, washing dishes at Flambard’s, a Sacramento restaurant that has since closed. As a young cook, Burks worked hard and paid careful attention to detail. All of his co-workers left the restaurant at the end of the day, but he stayed to train one on one with his managers. Burks says that he “sucked everybody dry for all of the knowledge I could find.”
Burks’ thirst for knowledge was not quenched by the time he got home, though. He spent his spare time watching cooking shows, taking notes, studying them and cooking all day long.
“I’d watch it, do it, tear it apart and put it back together,” says Burks.
Burks combined his work ethic, hands-on experience and culinary training from American River College to quickly work his way up the food chain. After putting five years in at Hungry Hunter, a steak house, Burks was recruited by Guckenheimer, a large, food service corporation that caters to businesses and schools. Next, he moved to a similar company, Aramark, which brought him to Consumnes River College in 1999.
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He says, “If I could be in the kitchen all the time I would.”
Since he came to City College in 2009 as the executive chef, cooking has fallen behind more important duties, like deciding what your choices will be for lunch. This is important to students like Roger Holmes, general education major, who eats at City Cafe whenever he has money in his wallet.
When designing the menu, Burks set a core, which includes pizza, burgers and sandwiches. The rest of the menu changes on a weekly basis, and Burks does not like repeating things often.
Don’t let the ever-changing menu fool you into thinking that it is hit or miss, though. These aren’t some willy-nilly, random decisions. Burks pays close attention to what the students want and always manages to add his own special spin on items.
For instance, he keeps a close eye on the 10-day weather forecast. If a cold, rainy day is coming, Burks makes sure that he offers something warm and comforting on the menu. Sherianne Robinson, a nursing major, was pleased when informed of Burks’ attention to detail. Robinson said, “That’s good. That’s real good.”
Along with serving the student body in general, Burks takes pride in guiding the City Cafe employees, of which 60 percent are students. Burks worked almost every job in the food industry leading up to his position at City College, and he says, “I’m pretty happy where I’m at right now.”
