The art of service: crafting meals with Club XL

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Nathan Maysonet
  • 47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  As 7 a.m. rolls around, the staff of Club XL is already busy at work making preparations for the day's events. Countless pieces of silverware and cups are being carefully laid out for the expected guests, and in the kitchen, a bounty of food is warming on the stove.

"It's long, tedious work, but I honestly love it," said Marina Araujo, a member of Club XL's wait staff. "It takes hours to prepare and requires thousands of pieces to come together before it's done, but it is fun."

Today, Araujo and the rest of Club XL's staff are busy preparing a feast for Laughlin's newest pilot training graduates in honor of their year-long effort to become pilots, and doing so is no easy task.

"It requires a well-oiled machine to get this done," said Juan Celedon, one of Club XL's cooks. "Some people help with setup while others help prepare food, but we all do it for the pilots."

According to Celedon, food prep begins on the Thursday prior to graduation. Adding to the difficulty is the fact that as food is being prepared for graduation, Club XL is often hosting side events that require the staff's equal attention.

"Hours of work go into preparation for Friday's graduation meals," said Celedon. "As Thursday rolls in and evening dining begins at the club, we in the back will begin the prep for Friday's breakfast and dinner as Team XL eats upfront. The chef that night will begin readying the bacon, hash browns and eggs for breakfast and whatever else is planned for dinner. As Thursday's dinner ends, we'll begin setting up the breakfast buffet and by 6 a.m. Friday I've already started cooking the eggs and bacon."

A whole lot of eggs and bacon, usually about 17 dozen eggs, 25 pounds of bacon plus 12 pounds of hash browns, hundreds of biscuits and four loaves of french toast. Helping to wash it all down is four gallons of coffee and four gallons of orange juice, and dinner is much the same, explained Celedon. Simply replace the bacon with fish or chicken and some supporting garnishes and you get the idea.

"I take pride in this work and like doing this," said Celedon. "We want the pilots and their families to enjoy the meal we prepared for them and we love hearing that the food was great."

Of course, food prep is only part of the equation. The club must be properly decorated and each place mat set with the appropriate utensils before anyone can be served breakfast or dinner.

"We can use as much as 4,000 pieces of silverware for graduation," said Araujo. "Salad forks, dinner forks, butter knives and more just for starters. Each must be carefully polished and organized in advance before we can use them on graduation."

Four staff members are responsible for preparing the Club's dining area for the two meals and have only a few hours to prepare for both meals. While daunting, Araujo explains you get used to the pressure.

"It really does become routine," said Araujo. "We break the room down after each meal and completely build it backup. Once the grads finish a meal, we go back to being busy little bees and clean everything up. We wash and polish utensils and prepare the napkins. We are a portrait of efficiency."

Eduardo Moreno, the newest member of the Club XL staff, best sums up all of the team's effort.

"It's just so well organized," said Moreno. "Everything is put slowly together days before the event so that when the day arrives we put the puzzle pieces together. It has to be as perfect as possible because these pilots trained hard to make it to this day and they protect us. The least we can do is feed them right."

Bruce Hiott, General Manager of Laughlin's Clubs, couldn't be prouder of his team and the lengths they go to, to feed and honor Laughlin's graduating pilots.

"I am always amazed by the team's ability to make each graduation such a success for our pilots," said Hiott. "Every three weeks we have a graduation to prepare for and this team manages to make it all happen while also performing their regular day-to-day duties. They are truly amazing."