Council With Chef Wayne and Eric The Pizza Guy By Noah Morris

On October 3rd, 2022, I sat down with two men worthy of more respect than meager words on a page could muster. To the right, Chef Wayne, the thoughtful, charismatic grillmaster, slinger of millions of burgers, fries and chicken breasts. To the left, Eric the Pizza Guy, who is also thoughtful and charismatic as the head honcho of the Caf’s pizza department, where he harnesses the raw power of fire in pursuit of deliciousness.

To begin, I asked them if there were any aspects of Caf usage that more students should be aware of. Eric said, “Don’t forget to oil the wok—that’s how you get burnt rice!” Wayne said that “Most of all, students should ask for help when they don’t know how something works—everyone is friendly, and wants what’s best for you.”

I then asked for the weirdest thing a student had ordered. Eric remembered a girl who ordered a cottage cheese pizza, getting it from the salad bar. He did not try it. Wayne had a regular customer who would get a “donut burger”: two donuts with a patty in between.

My next question was “What do you wish the school was doing differently?” Wayne had a lot to say on the topic. He said that the students are great. He couldn’t think of a better customer base that he’d had over his forty years of cooking. He then said that the administration does a lot of stuff right, but he wished they did more for Caf employees during the summer. They lose a lot of good people every year, because for those three months, people have still got to make money to live. The administration at Hendrix does some work putting people in other departments, but there’s room for improvement. He then noted, “One thing I’m proud of, listen, we get a lot of leftover food. You kids have a limited amount of time to eat, and we want you to have as many choices as possible. It took about five years of arguing, but we now donate quite a bit of food to the shelters. Debbie Lipscomb was instrumental in that. Homelessness is something we need to address everywhere, and we do what we can here in Conway.”

I then asked, “What foods do you wish were or weren’t offered?” Eric said, “Well, I don’t like liver and onions, so y’all can take that one away! Not my favorite, never has been. Now, I wish we had some fried calamari. That stuff is nice!” Wayne said, “I don’t think that we should offer shrimp. I love it, but shrimp allergies are particularly harsh, in that microscopic amounts can have profound effects. We got rid of peanut butter for the same reason. On the other hand, it would be nice if we had some real avocados. The spread at the sandwich bar is a bit too bitter.”

Next, I asked, “What’s changed in the time you’ve been here?” Eric said “I’ve lived here since ‘76. Conway’s grown massively, I remember when there was a stop sign next to the Walmart! Hendrix’s campus has changed a lot. I used to swim in this building (the SLTC), back in high school. It was a gymnasium back then, we didn’t have the WAC. Back then I worked in Huett, where Miller is now. Pizza used to get cooked, then served a couple hours later. Now it’s much fresher, and tastier.” Wayne said, “I was born in Chicago. I have ten brothers and sisters. When I first moved here from Chicago, around ‘83, Arkansas seemed about 30 years behind Chicago, in terms of technology and culture. At this point, I’d say we’ve caught up to present day Chicago. We may lag a year or two on some trends, but we are certainly on par with the rest of the world, while maintaining that allure of friendliness.”

My last question was “Do you feel like a valued employee?” Eric said, “I do. I mean, I’m pretty much the pizza department. They let me do what I want, but mostly, I want to feed yall what you like.” Wayne said “Yes. I feel respected as a professional and a person. I try to be good on both fronts. I try to emulate my father, who was the greatest man I ever knew. Someone asked me if I got mad at work, and I said, ‘They don’t pay me enough’.”