Chef Robert Clark knows restaurants. From cozy gastropubs to the bustling Bolton Dining Commons, his workplaces have changed over the years, but his passions for cooking and connecting with people have remained the same.
Clark has worked for UGA Dining Services since July 2022, starting as a sous chef at Oglethorpe Dining Commons (O-House). Six months ago, he became one of Bolton Dining Commons’ two head chefs, also known as managing chefs, along with Chef Justin Robbins.
“Managing chefs set the menus, manage the employees, make sure we are presenting an experience to our customers that is aligned with customer service and food quality goals — and have as much fun as possible while we do it, which has been great,” Clark said.
It’s very much a team effort. “The support structure here is incredible. Everyone is willing to answer questions and solve problems together,” he said. With 40-50 employees working each shift at Bolton, he added, “as much as one cook can’t cook for a building like this, one person can’t manage a staff as big as this.”
Before coming to UGA, Clark worked in small, independent restaurants. He began his career at Trappeze Pub in downtown Athens as an apprentice in the kitchen and worked his way up to chef. He also worked as the chef at South Kitchen + Bar and then helped set up and manage restaurants for SP2 Hospitality, owners of The Pine, The Root, El Barrio and 11th Pin in Athens and the Pub on Main in Watkinsville at the time.
Clark had always been interested in working at the university, though. “UGA was part of restaurant folklore,” he said.
“O-House was a great place to get into college dining, to step up into a more structured, larger-format service,” Clark said. He learned the ropes of UGA Dining Services under Chef Don Law, and when Law retired, Clark became a managing chef at O-House with Chef Kevin Statham.
Comparing UGA dining commons to restaurants around town, Clark said, “It’s a matter of scale. There are more people, but as long as you have bigger pots and bigger spoons, it scales about the same. There are things that are harder and things that are easier.”
One of his favorite parts of O-House was O’Hacienda, a station that features burritos, tacos, quesadillas and nachos and was voted UGA Dining Services’ best station for the past four years. Clark highly recommends the chipotle chicken.
But his best memories are of the people there. “It always comes back to the people,” he said. “I still love my O-House gang.”
When the opportunity to become a managing chef at Bolton arose, Clark saw it as way to continue learning.
“Bolton serves more people than any facility on campus by double. It has to run at peak efficiency,” Clark said. “I wanted to learn how they feed so many people and the quality with which they do it.”
Staff make all the difference, he said. “We work hard to find great people to staff the dining commons, train them and make sure they want to stay. You need all your tumblers clicking to feed 8,000 people per day.”
The low turnover of staff is the biggest difference Clark has found between local restaurants and the UGA dining commons.
“You have more continuity at UGA. In a college town, you have seasonal workers, students, transient people, so it’s been interesting and eye opening to meet people who work at UGA and stay here because of its environment, encouragement and benefits,” he said.
He’s also noticed how deeply rooted many teams are. “You have people who have worked together for years and years. People move to different buildings and come back,” he said. “It’s an incentive to train people, help with their enrichment because you know they’re people you’re going to have with you for a while.”
Although he doesn’t spend as much time in the kitchen as he once did, Clark said he still finds joy in the hands-on work. “I still really enjoy cooking, and it’s still the best part of the job.” Adding new techniques to his repertoire was another incentive to move to Bolton. “Bolton has the wok, a rotisserie smoker, jet-fired burners. You want to add as many tricks to your bag as you can,” he said.
In the year ahead, Clark will have the exciting opportunity to bring a new dining commons’ entire culinary program to life. He has been selected to become the sole managing chef at the dining commons in the new West Campus Dining, Learning and Well-being Center when it opens for service next summer.
Coming to UGA was “one of the best decisions I could have made for this phase of my life and career,” Clark said. He added, “This is where I want to be, and I can’t wait to find out what happens.”