By Samantha Garza | Staff Writer

Renowned chef Grace Ramirez partnered with Aramark for the first time Tuesday to bring some students a little taste of home while giving others a proper introduction to authentic Latin cuisine.

Ramirez’s station — called “La Latina Cocina” and named after her first cookbook — has been set up in 1845 at Memorial since Oct. 10. Some of her menu items have been featured and have become a success among students.

As students lined up ready to try the authentic Latin food, Ramirez walked into the dining hall with a beaming smile on her face, hugging everyone and immediately starting to approach students to talk with them.

“I wanted to create a concept for the students that would remind Latino students of home,” Ramirez said. “And for those who are not Latino, I wanted them to feel nurtured and loved.”

This was not only the first time Ramirez partnered with Aramark but also the first time she partnered with different universities to bring students this kind of experience. She said she has partnered with 80 universities, and Baylor was her first stop in the tour, followed by Arizona State University.

“I love this concept because it’s about representation,” Ramirez said. “It’s important for Latino students to see this concept and feel properly represented.”

Ramirez was at the dining hall from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m., and she was able to talk to students and take pictures with them.

“Part of that partnership [with Aramark] was to bring her in to meet the students and kind of explain that she is the creator of this authentic Latin cuisine,” Shannon Sytsma, Baylor Dining marketing manager, said.

Sean McMahon, Aramark’s resident district manager within Baylor Dining, said that through their corporate relationship with Ramirez, they were able to secure a partnership with her so that students would be able to experience opportunities like this.

“We’re looking for ways to bring more authentic cuisine, especially with Gen Z wanting more authentic cuisine in their dining experiences,” McMahon said. “Chef Grace was a great person to partner with to bring those experiences here.”

To make some of the recipes student-friendly, Ramirez partnered with Toni Thomas, who is a regular chef at 1845 at Memorial. Thomas said she was part of the Aramark culinary development team when she got to go to Philadelphia, where she met Ramirez.

Together, through a weeklong process, Thomas said she helped Ramirez write and develop the recipes that were featured in the station.

“It was a collaborative effect of just writing recipes and working on recipes so that they could be student-friendly and student-forward,” Thomas said.

Thomas said at 1845 at Memorial, students prefer a more diverse menu, which worked well with Ramirez’s station.

When deciding which recipes to use, Thomas and Ramirez had to think about which ones would scale best and which ones students loved the most.

“A lot of it is table touches; I’ll go and I’ll sit down and talk with guests to find out where they’re from and what they’re missing from home and what mom used to make,” Thomas said. “So it works out perfectly with [Ramirez’s] recipes because these are what mom used to make.”

Ramirez said the recipes in her repertoire came from her grandmother, grandfather and stepfather.

“It’s like opening the door to my home to you all,” Ramirez said.