Students and staff at Terra Community College tasted the changes in food service in the school’s cafeteria late last fall. When spring semester classes began January 10, customers at the newly renamed TerraVue Grand Café could see the difference.

During the holiday break, construction workers and Terra staff removed a wall between the serving line and the rest of the cafeteria, laid new ceramic tile and used vibrant paint to accent the new layout. It means more room for Chef Edward Logan II and his staff to work, a healthier location for the salad bar, and a more pleasing aesthetic look for patrons.

Last fall, Taher Inc. became Terra’s food service management company. The Minnesota-based company provides services to K-12, college, senior and business clients in 11 states. Taher serves more than 34 million meals per year, and employs and/or supervises more than 2,000 employees.

“We are very excited to be here,” said Brent Bishop, Food Service Specialist for Taher. “This is an excellent opportunity to spread out from the Twin Cities and to work with a partner like Terra in taking food service to the next level.”

Taher is standardized in its process but also allows for freedom to tailor their accounts to the local community. For example, Bishop said, they will offer the local favorite, Betty Salad, which is an unknown in other parts of the country.

Logan, a native of Fremont, has assumed the reigns of the local operation. A graduate of Fremont Ross and Vanguard Career Center, Logan graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. in 2006 with a major in culinary arts and minors in baking and pastry and hotel/restaurant

management.

After stints at the University of Toledo, Mon Ami in Catawba and Parkvue Assisted Living in Sandusky, Logan comes to Terra with a passion for creating great food.

“I’ve always loved cooking,” Logan said. “To see someone’s face as they try something you’ve made … I just love that.”

Logan said patrons to the Grand Café will see the use of fresh, local ingredients when possible, variety, healthy options and an “eye-popping” new look with the renovation.

On Logan’s staff as head cook is Chef Kipp Martin of Port Clinton. A graduate of the Le Cordon Bleu program of the International Culinary Academy in Pittsburgh, Martin has worked locally at Nate’s Restaurant and Lounge in Port Clinton and at Kalahari in Sandusky.

Customers will see an expanded menu, a new budget-conscious menu and monthly theme promotions. Daily themes include Food 4 Life Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, On Display Wednesdays, Homestyle Comfort Thursdays and Seafood Fridays.

While just in its infant stage at Terra, Taher will look to explore ways to reach out to the community, including catering services.

“The College now feels comfortable in offering a complete range of on-site services designed to assist companies and groups in producing a successful meeting, training session, or conference,” said Mary Mc Cue, Director of Marketing and Auxiliary Services at Terra. “Taher offers a fresh and unique blend of innovative cuisine and dependable service.”

Not only will the College have an upscale on-site catering service, but it will be able to provide conferencing services with technical support and audiovisual capabilities.

Taher has also been requested to provide box lunches for group meetings off campus and has been eager to get to know the local businesses.

The menu and other TerraVue Grand Café news can be accessed by logging onto Terra’s Facebook page and scrolling down the left-hand column to Favorite Pages. And, $5 TerraVue Grand Café gift cards are now for sale in The CollegeStore.