Edgar Rodriguez

After immigrating to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 10 years old, Food Services Manager Edgar Rodriguez was inspired to start cooking by the traditional Mexican dishes that his mother prepared for him as a child.  

 

“I compared everything I ate to what she made,” Rodriguez said. “The food she made was very flavorful and when I would eat the same thing elsewhere, it wasn't the same. It got me intrigued: ‘How is it made differently when she makes it compared to other people?’ And that's what started my cooking career.”

 

Rodriguez began working at McDonalds when he was 18 years old before working his way up at a San Francisco bar as a dishwasher, then prep cook, sous chef and finally a chef. After working as a chef in both corporate and restaurant environments, Rodriguez transitioned to working in schools, calling the process a “chain reaction.” 

 

Rodriguez notes the contrast between the fast paced environment of corporate and restaurant work compared to schools.

 

“Everybody is really nice and I feel it's because you have time to be nice,” Rodriguez said. “[In] a busy place, you have to be a little aggressive to start getting things done. Here, I'm very relaxed, and the girls trust me so they follow what I say. We used to have a saying, ‘If you can’t take the heat, get out,’ but it doesn't translate here. We're busy but it’s more relaxed.”

 

Rodriguez also notes the irony in his job as a chef — his busy schedule does not allow for him to cook for himself often.  

 

“The thing about chefs — [they] don't eat well,” Rodriguez said. “The truth is [in] the food industry — you don't have time to make yourself food, you usually eat standing up and it's really hard to take a break in restaurants. So we never really ate fancy meals.”

 

Despite this, Rodriguez does enjoy preparing food for his significant other and has learned to cook traditional dishes from her Taiwanese culture. Rodriguez also enjoys modifying and racing cars, and rock climbing, an interest that he explores upwards of four times a week — he says that when he doesn’t rock climb, “it feels like something is missing.” 

 

After his first few weeks at MVHS, Rodriguez hopes that students can be more understanding of the work that goes into preparing their meals every day.  

 

“Sometimes the ladies put in work and they're giving you food that they've worked so hard for, and students are just complaining about it,” Rodriguez said. “As a human being, you have to be empathetic, and a lot of the students lack empathy because they're not doing the work. I welcome them to come one day and volunteer and work and show them what it's really like to be behind here.”