Page 4 - gfs0318_Magazine

FRONT BURNER

Restaurant Chefs Visit Sub to Provide Culinary Training and Lunch

hefs from two of New Orleans’ top
Crestaurants left their kitchens to come
aboard the Ohio-class ballistic missile sub-
marine USS Louisiana (SSBN 743) and cook
lunch for its 300 Gold and Blue crew mem-
bers, as well as provide hands-on guidance
and training for its culinary specialists.
Christopher Lusk, executive chef of the
Caribbean Room, and David Whitmore Jr.,
the chef de cuisine for Borgne Restaurant,
brought in their own ingredients to cook
New Orleans-inspired cuisine for the crew.
“Today we are preparing a lot of local
New Orleans fair,” said Lusk. “This means a
lot to me, I have a six-month-old son and I
am going to be able to tell him about being Christopher Lusk, executive chef from the New Orleans restaurant The Caribbean Room, serves Louisiana-
on a submarine and cooking for the crew. It inspired cuisine to the crewmembers of the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Louisiana (SSBN 743).
is such a huge honor because of what these Sponsored by the Navy League, Lusk traveled from New Orleans, La., with David Whitmore Jr., the chef
de cuisine for Borgne Restaurant, to donate ingredients and cook for the 300 crew members on board the
sailors do for us every single day. This is our submarine. (Photo by Lt. Cmdr. Michael Smith, USN, commander, Submarine Group Nine.)
way to say thank you.”
Over 75 gallons of food, 300 dinner rolls
and 50 pounds of shrimp were provided by
the chefs for the Nov. 28 meal. DLA Meals Made the Holidays Merrier
“When I see people volunteer their time eployed service members felt a little closer to home with tra-
and come and cook for two entire crews Dditional holiday meals that were delivered this Christmas by
of almost 300 people, it’s a big deal, and it Subsistence supply chain professionals at the Defense Logistics Agency
means a lot to me and it means a lot to these Troop Support.
sailors,” said Chief Culinary Specialist Carl More than 200,000
Smith. “The chefs were pretty inspired by pounds of turkey, ham,
what these sailors do every single day with shrimp and more were pro-
the limited space that we have. I believe vided by DLA to troops sta-
that the reassurance and respect that the tioned in the Middle East.
sailors received from the chefs gave them DLA Troop Support also en-
even more pride in the jobs that they do.” sured that service members
The menu consisted of smoked turkey at other locations around
and sausage jambalaya, shrimp etouffee, red the world, including those
beans and rice, spinach madeleine, smoth- at sea, were able to enjoy a
ered okra, turtle soup, remoulade salad, and Air Force senior leaders serve a holiday meal to the holiday meal.
bread pudding. airmen and Marines deployed under their charge in Robin Whaley, who works
Southwest Asia, Dec. 25, 2016. This year, DLA Troop
“They served us an amazing meal,” said Support provided more than 200,000 pounds of tur- with DLA Troop Support’s
Louisiana’s Gold crew commanding officer key, ham, shrimp and more to troops stationed in the Subsistence supply chain in
Cmdr. Martin Sprague. “So on behalf of Middle East. (Photo by Master Sgt. Benjamin Wilson.) Philadelphia, said the effort
the USS Louisiana, we are grateful for the is satisfying, but it takes a lot of planning and coordination between
authentic and amazing cuisine that was her team and its industry partners to ensure service members can
served to us today.” enjoy a traditional meal during the holiday season.
Louisiana is one of eight Ohio-class Tri- “Our warfighters spend a lot of holidays away from their families
dent ballistic missile submarines stationed and miss out on some of their favorite family traditions,” Whaley
at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, providing the said. “We take great pride in ensuring a taste of home is delivered
most survivable leg of the nation’s strategic to every warfighter.”
deterrent forces. The combined amounts of food provided through DLA Troop
“Every day they’re doing a lot of work Support for service members deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan
to keep the boats up, to keep everything and Kuwait include: 112,092 pounds of turkey, 59,430 pounds of
clean, and to keep everything perfect in a beef, 38,430 pounds of ham, 29,304 pounds of shrimp, 690 cases of
military fashion to protect the country,” cookies, 16,002 assorted cakes and pies, 6,564 pounds of marshmal-
said Whitmore. “This is what we can do to lows, 3,743 gallons of juice and 2,145 gallons of egg nog.
thank them for everything that they do.”
4 GOVERNMENT FOOD SERVICE • MARCH 2018