Christian Castaneda, affectionately dubbed the “Omelet Master” by his faithful fans, can be found invigorating hungover Usdan diners with his blend of taste and theatre on any given Saturday or Sunday morning. Just look for the longest line in the Usdan cafeteria and you can find him at the head of it, bantering with students and flipping omelets for his customers’ viewing and eating pleasure. But there’s more to Castaneda than his deftness with a frying pan.

Born in Lima, Peru, Castaneda came to America upon a suggestion from a friend and employer, someone who Castaneda refers to simply as “Mr. Luis.” Castaneda gained Mr. Luis’s trust after he informed him that another employee was attempting to steal money from the company. From then on, Castaneda and Mr. Luis became close friends, and Mr. Luis offered Castaneda an all-expenses paid trip to America to help him begin what he promised would be a better life.

Although his company was based in Peru, Mr. Luis lived and worked in Hartford, Conn., and so after living in Florida for a year, Castaneda settled in Connecticut as well, where he began to work for two different Temporary Agencies. The two companies, Tempsource and Chief of Staff, deal solely with culinary related work, and it was through their services that he found the job with Bon Appetit.

Castaneda unexpectedly learned the art of omelet cooking when he was hired to work for the Usdan dining center in the fall of last year.

“When I came here the chef at that time asked me, ’Can you cook the omelets, I need a day off,’” he said. “It was my first day. I said okay, but I’d only ever done it in a flat grill, I’d never done it in a frying pan. But he explained to me what I needed to do, and then I started doing it, and then suddenly everybody was looking.”

Frying omelets isn’t the only thing that Castaneda has had to pick up quickly. At the age of 17, directly out of high school, Castaneda joined the Peruvian police force to better his chances at entering a university. He completed the training before he turned 18, and worked as an officer for two and a half years. Although he loved the job, after several dangerous incidents his family began to worry about his safety.

During an interview with The Argus, Castaneda pulled off his hat and gestured towards his ear, revealing a large scar, a remnant of his days as an officer.

“You see the scar over here?” Castaneda said. “Something happened, one thing lead to another, and somebody cut me on my ear. So my mother got scared because I was only 18 or 19 years old.”

So Castaneda heeded his mother’s warnings and enrolled in a private university in Peru called Idat. He studied business and received an academic scholarship, and therefore only had to pay five to 10 percent of the tuition. However, despite his education, Castaneda could not immediately find work as a chef and was forced to work as a dishwasher.

“When I started working as a dishwasher I didn’t speak a word of English,” he said. “If you came up to me on the street saying ’Hi, Christian,” I didn’t know what ’Hi’ meant.”

However, Castaneda quickly discovered that dishwashing was not for him. He learned English as he learned the skills of the kitchen, and now his vocabulary is much improved. Although he has picked up his English “from the street” and has had no formal English instruction, he says that he has mastered the vast majority of culinary terminology.

While students may know Castaneda for his famous omelets and his amiable demeanor, many may also recall an incident last year that nearly drove Castaneda away from the frying station for good.

Because Castaneda is a part-time employee of Bon Appetit’s, a worker of higher seniority was allowed to replace him at the omelet station. When members of the student body caught wind of Castaneda’s removal, they flooded former Resident District Manager Delmar Crim’s office with letters of complaint. Leading the effort to reinstate Castaneda was Ben Carman ’11, who started a Facebook group drawing attention to the issue.

“I don’t know if you know about the Power of the Spoon, but since Bon Appetit made it known that they wanted student feedback, we decided that this would be our criticism: we wanted the omelet guy back,” Carman said, noting that he also appreciated Castaneda’s sense of humor and overall good cheer. “Someone had replaced him, and the omelets weren’t as good. So we formed a Facebook group to try and get him back.”

According to Castaneda, Crim took note of the omelet station’s dwindling popularity in the wake of “the Omelet Master’s” removal.

One of Castaneda’s friends suggested that he explore his union contract, and whether or not the replacement had taken his job lawfully. In fact, Castaneda discovered that his contract had been violated and he immediately brought the issue to Crim’s attention. The situation was quickly rectified, and Castaneda was overjoyed to return.

Although he describes himself as working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Castaneda has other passions besides cooking. He adores working with cars, and after discovering that becoming a police officer in America would not be possible due to his limited English, his ultimate goal became to open up his own business working with cars. He declined to give details about the exact nature of the business, and relayed that in Peru it is considered bad luck to reveal details of an endeavor before it has begun. Castaneda hopes to have the business up and running soon, and it has been a dream of his for a long time.

“I have worked for seven years for someone else,” he said. “I know how things go. I am ready to be my own boss.”

Castaneda has a recently born son, Christian, who he calls the love of his life. Soccer, he says, is another passion, and he can often be found playing with students in the back of the Freeman Athletic Center.

“It’s my life, soccer,” he said. “I played it from when I was inside of my mother’s stomach.”

Despite the struggles he has faced since he began his life in America, Castaneda always maintains a positive attitude and loves his job at the University. His favorite part about being “The Omelet Master” is his interactions with students.

Castaneda remains modest; he has a hard time believing his own popularity.

“But why would they want to know about me?” Castaneda said. “So everybody’s happy with my omelets? When I flip it up they say, ’Oh my god!’”

Even “the Omelet Master’s” boss can’t get enough of his unique talent with the pan.

“Christian does a very good job with the omelet station at brunch,” said Bon Appetit Resident District Manager Michael Strumpf. “You can tell by its popularity amongst the customers. There’s always a huge line waiting for his omelets. He’s a very good cook, and he’s a very good employee.”

Indeed, students look forward to watching Castaneda cook. For some, such as Mike Chou ’11, getting an omelet on Saturday mornings has become nothing less than a campus tradition.

“Every time I get brunch I look forward to getting an omelet from the master,” Chou said. “He’s very friendly, and very funny. He makes the omelet experience enjoyable. Once, I had a recruit and I brought him to brunch. I told him, ’If there’s one thing you do while you’re here you have to get the omelet. Your Wesleyan experience isn’t complete without it.’”