Over dinner one night my son Eli, a fourth grader, told me that I should ask the Lunch Lady for cooking lessons. ‘She could teach you how to make kale soup’ he said in such a way that tried not to hurt my feelings. Then Max, my eleven-year old chimed in with: ‘And pesto and green beans too’ duplicating his brother’s diplomatic tone. All I could think of was – they like the kale soup and green beans at school?
It wasn’t what I expected but as it turns out, neither is the Lunch Lady. Christine Napolitan is a culinary force to be reckoned with and her food is about as close to homemade as you can get or wish for, at a public school. She’s a graduate of Cordon Bleu and also studied with the renowned Italian chef Marcella Hazan. And at the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School in West Tisbury, Massachusetts – Christine starts at 6:30 in the morning — simmering soups from scratch, rolling meat balls, pulling bbq pork, pureeing chickpeas and garlic into hummus and prepping mixed greens with local tomatoes, roasted beets, cucumbers, onions and feta – and a choice of homemade dressings like tofu sesame and mustard lemon dill. She told me ‘I don’t make my own Ranch. Why bother?’
Wearing a beret-ish looking hat and an apron stained with proof — Christine and Luanne, her assistant, prepare and serve about 100 lunches a day. That’s over half the student population including some of the teachers, staff, parents from the community and the Fed Ex guy who somehow always manages to deliver around noon — especially when quesadillas are on the menu. And it seems everyone is eating their veggies – on average Christine cooks up about 25 pounds a day and when there’s stir-fry– it’s more like 40.
This woman is also one of the founding members of the school which opened in 1996 and has been the Lunch Lady ever since. She’s proud to say that the ‘her kids’ – the students are allowed enough time to sit and eat. The elementary classes have a 45 minute break and the upper grades have half an hour. According to news sources, the average American school allows less than 20 minutes for lunch.
For the first four years Christine didn’t have an in-house kitchen so she cooked in places like the Masonic Hall and would schlep the food to school in the back of her Volvo station wagon. It was tough with soup, easier with bagels. Now she’s got a decent size space with a six-burner gas stove, griddle, two ovens, sinks, a dishwasher and cold storage. There’s no cafeteria so the kids take their trays back to the classrooms or outside, weather permitting.
As a parent, there are two things I love most about Christine’s kitchen. One, is that I don’t have to worry about packing lunches every day or what my kids are offered. They like it and it’s healthier than I could manage 5 days a week. The other — is her condiment tray. It’s a thing of beauty — something to behold. The hot sauces alone – there’s always three, maybe four – like Tabasco, habenero and Thai chili-garlic. Plus she puts out crushed red pepper, bottles of vinegar – balsamic, red wine, malt and rice – and there’s olive oil, mustards, Worcester, soy and tamari… and dried oregano, grated parmesan, salt and fresh ground pepper and of course, ketchup. At $3.50 for an adult and $2.50 for a kid this is the best deal around. You’re welcome to come and try it. Just be sure Christine knows you’re coming — the deadline for placing your order is 9am sharp — she cooks to the numbers to minimize waste. Remember your Lunch Lady? You didn’t mess with her, either.
