Getting to know Phyllis St. Peter

Cook for exhibition line at Northwoods Dining Center continues to put smiles on students’ faces

By Caley Jorgensen

Story #6

November 10, 2010

Word Count: 849



Phyllis St. Peter was ready to make the featured dish of the day, the peanut
butter and jelly wrap. Photo by Caley Jorgensen.



                Whether the chicken Caesar wrap is being served or the chef salad, students wait patiently in the exhibition line at Wally’s. As Phyllis St. Peter carefully prepares the featured dish for each student, she starts conversations asking students how their day was, or about their weekend plans.

            The students know her as Phyllis because it’s embroidered on her uniform. She wears a black, collared top with a white apron over it to keep it clean. St. Peter works every weekday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. She can be found behind the glass serving wraps, salads, or deserts. “They call me the Exbo Cook,” she said. “It’s short for exhibition.”

            Phyllis St. Peter has worked at Northwoods Dining Center, or Wally’s, for 11 years. She was born in Chicago, Ill., and at the age of six months, she and her family moved to the small town of Puposky, Minn., where she grew up, about 15 miles north of Bemidji. St. Peter is number three of the four sisters. She grew up with many childhood memories. “We were country kids,” she said. “The neighbors had a barn and we played for hours, we rode the cows in the pasture, played in the creek, we had a really good time.”

            St. Peter has not always worked on BSU’s campus. Before working in culinary, St. Peter attended a trade school in Thief River Falls and was a licensed cosmetologist for several years. She has also worked at Thunderbird Graphics, an embroidery and screen-printing store west of Lake Irving.



Along with the Homecookin and Vegetarian Entree, the Grill Special,
the Grain bar, and the ice cream line, the exhibition line can by found
with St. Peter serving in Wally's. Photo by Caley Jorgensen.



            St. Peter started working with food when she worked at the Beltrami county jail as a cook and then found a job at BSU. “I had to work every other weekend there,” she said. “This job came up and there were no weekends.” St. Peter explained how she first supervised the Upper Deck when it was serving pizza from Pizza Hut. After a couple years, she started working in Wally’s and has been there ever since.

            “It’s nice to talk to Phyllis when I’m waiting in line,” said BSU sophomore Tom Alexander. “It’s not like high school where they just slap food on your plate, because she’s willing to talk and she makes it a better experience.” Students can find a variety of wraps and salads at the exhibition bar. Dishes, including the chef salad, Santa Fe wraps, chicken Caesar salad wraps, fajitas, and even smoothies, can be found where St. Peter serves.

            St. Peter starts out with an empty plate, a smile, and asks her customers, “What can I get for you today?” The wraps, one of the most frequently served dishes in the exhibition line, start off with a flour tortilla. St. Peter then carefully lays lettuce, meat, and other toppings students ask for. She is very neat as she prepares and rolls up the wraps. She hands off the finished product, along with a comment such as, “Here you go!” or “Have a nice day!”

To find out what's being served in St. Peter's line, as well as
the other lines, BSU makes menus that are posted around
campus (top). A black board in the entrance of Wally's
makes it easy to glance at what each line is serving (bottom).
Photos by Caley Jorgensen.

            BSU sophomore Anna Connelly enjoys eating the food St. Peter prepares. “She absolutely makes the best chicken Caesar wraps and she’s super nice,” she said. BSU alumnus Tom Bornetun remembers St. Peter serving him. “She’s very polite and she always puts in the right portion of food for the hungry students,” he said. St. Peter likes talking to students as she prepares the dish. “She always has a smile on her face and brightens your day by the way she makes our wraps and salads with love,” said BSU sophomore Christine Bauer. “She’s like a little piece of home up at school!”

            St. Peter lives with her husband of 38 years and has two sons who live and work in Bemidji. She also has five grandchildren. In her free time she likes to get in touch with her creative side. “I love to go to flee markets and find old pieces of furniture to strip down and refinish, and I also do some dry floral arrangements,” she said. “I have given some away to relatives and I like to keep some myself.”

            St. Peter still enjoys her job, even after a decade of serving college students. “I get three weeks off for winter break and summers off. It’s great,” she said. Her favorite part of the job is serving the students. “I love the kids,” she said with a smile. “It’s something about them that gets me.” BSU sophomore Brandon Buske thinks she fits the job perfectly. “She’s a great worker for this environment,” he said. “You can tell she really enjoys her job and loves serving us.”

            When St. Peter retires she plans to spend time with her husband, who is also retired. “I’m going to have him take me traveling, anywhere we can drive,” she said. “I don’t like to fly.” She plans on working at Wally’s for a couple more years. Until then, she can be found behind the counter in the exhibition line, serving with a smile on her face.