(Above) Chef Jose Tavarez and Ms. Carmen Ortiz work together to make delicious pepperoni pizzas for Friday’s lunch. At FLIK, all the meals rotate in five-week cycles, and each day of the week has a theme: Monday is comfort food, Tuesday is Latin American food, Wednesday is Italian food, Thursday is Asian food, and Friday is pizza.
In the fall of 2022, Lake Highland welcomed a new food vendor to the campus: FLIK. They boast a fresh, nutritious, and fun new approach to dining. After being given a tour of the kitchen and meeting the staff and team, it became obvious the true quality of FLIK comes from their sense of community. This small, but mighty group of 15 workers in the the Tartan Cafe works together to cook food for the students and faculty of the Lower and Upper School every day.
FLIK encourages food exploration through their “Exhibition Station” available twice a week where students can build their own lunch. Some of their favorite stations have been: ramen, waffles, and pasta. They also put great care into the safety of the students by mounting allergy boards on the walls and having a personal dietitian available for all students. FLIK is extremely excited to be working with LHPS and has now opened the Scottish Cafe in The Porter Family Center.
(Above) FLIK takes freshness and the quality of their food seriously for the safety of LHPS students. Ingredients are sourced by local food providers and receive fresh food shipments three times a week. A standard procedure is the measuring of food temperatures as seen by Ms. Naydine Olavarria, checking to make sure cold food is under 41˚F and hot food is over 140˚F. FLIK also corresponds with LHPS’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion initiative to provide inclusive options for students. (Serena Young)(Above) Mr. Jose Rey Celedon, always smiling, flips the grilled cheese which is a common favorite for Lower School students. On the other hand, high schoolers tend to prefer protein-packed lunches. (Serena Young)(Above) Mr. Vagner Colo quickly slices steaming grilled chicken into thinner strips as a safety precaution. (Serena Young)(Above) FLIK does a wonderful job of handling food waste by pledging to Stop Food Waste Day, a movement to minimize food waste through prevention, education, and repurposing edible food into delicious new recipes. After going through a process to ensure the freshness of ingredients, these beans have been repurposed into a delicious new salad. FLIK does not buy premade dishes. Mr. Jack Achenbach explains they do, “As much scratch cooking as possible.” (Serena Young)(Above) Mrs. Jessikah Koch’s Kindergarten class files into the cafeteria during lunchtime. Mr. Kenneith Mendez, the Executive Chef on the LHPS Main Campus, elaborates why he loves cooking for kids, “You create a memory for a kid for the rest of their life, and you’re a part of that.” On Fridays, Lower School students are served a pizza, broccoli, and sorbet. (Serena Young)(Right) Ms. Odalys Recano Bobillo and Ms. Alex Poirier, the Catering Manager, fill containers with freshly cooked dishes and chopped veggies before students arrive for lunch. The potato chips in the bucket are known as FLIK chips, named after the husband and wife who founded the company. Essentially, FLIK chips are unpeeled potatoes thinly sliced and fried with a bit of oil and a touch of sea salt. (Serena Young)
Serena Young is the Director of Photography of Lake Highland Preparatory School's Upper School newspaper Twice-Told Tale, a publication ranked first in the nation by American Scholastic Press Association. Young is the Co-founder of Athena Sisterhood, a community of over 1.6k women, and was a teen speaker at the Global Youth Mindset Summit. She has traveled to 30+ countries, volunteered over 1,500 hours of community service, and has 7M+ views on Google Reviews. Young started her personal development journey at the age of seven and has attended Tony Robbins's Unleash your Power Within, Global Youth Leadership, Business Mastery, Leadership Academy, and Date With Destiny. When not taking a good nap, Young enjoys gourmet food, running long distance, watching award winning movies, and spending quality time with family and friends.
