A standby in the Ampersand and the subject of the Facebook group that claims that he, among other things, “majored in Efficiency” and has “a black belt in Tae Kwon Do,” Delmar Crim is fast becoming an icon on campus. The resident district manager of Bon Appétit, Crim sat down with the Argus Monday afternoon to discuss his early life, his opinions of Usdan and even the Argus itself.
Born in Weedsport, NY, Crim is primarily of German descent, his name an Americanized form of the German name Grim. After graduating from the local high school he applied and was accepted to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA).
“I worked in a family restaurant when I was in high school,” Crim said. “I stopped by the guidance counselor’s office, picked up a card for the CIA.”
The rest is history.
After his time at CIA, Crim worked at a number of private clubs, hotels, restaurants and casinos, and even owned a French/northern Italian restaurant in upstate New York for nine years. He then spent some time working as a private chef for “a very rich person.” Looking back, he said that he enjoyed the experience.
“It was great,” he said. “I did a lot of corporate entertaining, cooking in his lodges. My house and car were included—good salary.”
From there, Crim went on to work as an executive chef at Whiteman’s, a gourmet food company. After this, he served as senior executive chef at Cornell University for five years before moving to Bon Appétit.
His first job under Bon Appétit was as director of operations at Case Western Reserve University.
“I did a pretty good job there, since when we got to Wesleyan I was promoted to Resident District Manager,” Crim said.
Crim said that he strongly believes in Bon Appétit’s ideals, supporting the company’s belief in locally bought food. He maintains that there is not as much control in the hands of far-off corporate managers as some have alleged.
“Compared to a lot of other organizations, there [are] very few corporate controls,” Crim said. “There are no corporate recipes. We really count on developing the skill sets of local folks and chefs.”
Like nearly everyone else on campus, Crim has his own opinions of Usdan.
“The materials that they used to build the building and the equipment are absolutely top notch,” he said.
However, he was willing to admit that the new facility’s design has presented some dilemmas.
“There are some functionality challenges that we’re working through upstairs,” he said.
Despite these issues, Crim said that the building itself is beautiful. He also thinks highly of the students here.
“[Wesleyan students] are the opposite of where I just came from, Case Western,” he said. “They’re all sciences there, very self-centered, whereas Wesleyan [students] kind of grab everything on their way through life. They are really interested in their peripheral impact. They have a much higher level of accountability.”
Crim also applauded the Wesleyan staff.
“They take a lot of pressure throughout the day and get a lot of good things done,” he said. “There’s a good set of skills here. Most of these people are seasoned professionals.”
Overall, Crim is optimistic about Bon Appétit’s future on campus, though he acknowledges that there have been difficulties in completing the transition from the system of former dining service provider Aramark.
“Some of the skill sets were good at some point, but they eroded over time,” he said. “As the [food service] business is going now, a lot of the food was taken out of boxes so a lot of people forgot how to cook.”
Once workers have been brought back up to speed, Crim said, things will change.
“There’s going to be a lot more edgier food, and it will change a lot more often,” he said.
When asked about his thoughts on the Argus’s coverage of Usdan and Bon Appétit, Crim admitted that he initially has some hesitation about the press.
“I used to read [the Argus] back before we actually took over, but I think they’ve been pretty fair,” he said. “Sometimes they’ve printed things that haven’t been thoroughly investigated, but overall I think it’s been a relatively fair publication.”
Overall, Crim said, he is satisfied with his new job.
“It’s a great community here,” he said. “I’m happy to be a part of it.”