How Tufts Works: Big flavor

Dozens of students are waiting for food at Carmichael Dining Center. Surprisingly, it’s not stir-fry night. It’s Thursday and these people are waiting for something called “Balanced Plate Big Flavor,” another themed food station. Given the plethora of alternative options, this long line sparks my interest.

I soon find out that part of the appeal of Balanced Plate is its creator himself, Ryan Geanacopoulos. Ryan, a Tufts Dining sous chef, delicately plates meals for students from behind the counter. As he works, he describes the food with a contagious level of enthusiasm. The results are consistently delicious, impeccably presented, healthful meals.

Given his skills, one would guess that Ryan was born cooking and eating gourmet food. However, as the child of two working parents, he claims his childhood diet primarily featured pre-made, packaged items.

“I didn’t know mac and cheese was white until I got to culinary school,” he admits.

Technical training opened his eyes to the creative possibilities that cooking presents. After graduating, Ryan achieved success when his recipe for sun-dried tomatoes pesto was used on the Food Network by Sara Moulton, the Gourmet Magazine executive chef at the time.

Over the next few years, Ryan alternated between working at five-star restaurants and neighborhood favorites. Since then, his career has included stints at The Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, the press booth at Fenway Park and a molecular gastronomy restaurant in Boston, among many others.

Directly before coming to Tufts, Ryan worked at Stephanie’s on Newbury as the creative director of the restaurant's specials menu. Working at one of Boston’s best known restaurants was a pivotal moment in his career. It was the “largest opportunity I had to expose my food,” he says.

Interestingly, he has replicated many of the same recipes he invented at Stephanie’s for “Balanced Plate Big Flavor.” The broadness of the menu for this themed night, including 21 dishes and 113 separate recipes, requires him to draw upon tried and true dishes that have already run successfully in restaurants.

In addition to his knack for creativity, Ryan attributes his success to both luck and the women role models of his life. He strongly believes that the conversational and learning experiences he had with his high school home economics teacher and other female chefs throughout his career have enriched his cooking. These relationships forged in the kitchen continue to be major sources of inspiration in his life.

Sadly, Ryan feels that young people are not forming the same invaluable interpersonal connections that he has built in the kitchen. Given his strong feelings about the power of cooking, it makes sense that in order to spend more time with his family, Ryan decided to leave the cut-throat restaurant business to work at Tufts.

Now, Ryan regularly cooks with his three-year-old daughter and even gave her a set of kitchen tools. Although a knife-wielding toddler sounds like my version of hell’s kitchen, I am certainly glad his career switch has allowed him to join the Tufts dining team.