News

New chef brings new tastes to Officers, Enlisted Club cuisine

  • Published
  • By Holly Birchfield
  • 78 ABW/PA
Robins Air Force Base, Ga. --  Douglas Goodridge is generally a laid back kind of guy. He carries that same easy spirit into the kitchen.

The father of four is originally from Barbados. He came to Robins to work as the executive chef of the Officer and Enlisted Club's seven-person cooking staff in early December 2007.

Mr. Goodridge said he takes his position very seriously.

"I'm a hands-on chef," he said. "I don't like sitting in the office. I like to get in the kitchen and work with the staff and teach them different things and so on."

In the short time he has been on staff, Mr. Goodridge has won the admiration of his new work family.

Lisa Paige, a Services cook for 22 years, said the executive chef, fondly known as "Chef Doug" by his colleagues, brings a freshness to the club.

"I think he's a wonderful person and he's going to help the club build up more," she said.

Bringing former customers back in 2008 is only one of Mr. Goodridge's goals for the club.

"I hope that (the New Year) will bring back most of the customers who have left in the past," he said. "That will be good to see our dining room full again at dinner and also at lunch. So I hope with this new menu we're doing and with the changes, the word gets around and customers will come and relax and have dinner."

Mr. Goodridge, who began his culinary career in Barbados and has worked as a cooking professional at multiple Marriott and other hotels in New York and Middle Georgia, said as the club temporarily closes from Jan. 13-31 for repairs, he will be giving customers reason to come back and relax.

"The club is going to close for a couple of weeks and I'm going to work on new menus: a dinner menu, a lunch menu, and banquets, and also do an in-house job training skills for the employees," he said. "(I'll) also have the kitchen staff meet to have the staff be up to date with different things in cooking."

Chef Doug will give his staff a lesson in gourmet cooking.

"(I'm going to teach them) things in French cooking, presentation, and consistency," he said. "Instead of using frozen items, I use fresh items for appetizers, entrees and salads and I use fresh vegetables and starches. Customers eat with their eyes, so it's always best to have something appealing to the customer and also to make some things different so the customer doesn't get bored ordering the same things."

The seasoned chef said his menus will have foods that appeal to a variety of ages and ethnic groups.

Aaron Feinberg, manager of the Officer and Enlisted Clubs for a year and a half, said he's looking forward to seeing all that the chef will bring to the table.

"He started in December and hit the ground running," he said. "He helped us through our busy holiday season and now we're ready to move forward and introduce some new things at the club."

The club manager said he and his staff plan to learn all they can from their new team member.

"He's actually mixing quite well with the staff," he said. "He's trying to teach everyone here new ideas and things that he has brought from all of his restaurant and catering experience. He's really strong on his presentation and quality of food."