Community
Latest Sage Hill News
Former Google, Michael Jordan’s Steak House Chef Leads FLIK
Chef Manager Enrique Reyes mopped floors and folded boxes in a Connecticut pizzeria at 12 years old. After cooking his way up the ladder in Michelin-starred restaurants and corporate dining, Reyes worked through the pandemic as executive chef for the Guckenheimer team at Google’s campus in Playa Vista.
Reyes joined Sage Hill in April to lead the FLIK dining services team in a bold new direction. Most recently, he worked as a traveling chef for FLIK Hospitality Group, filling in at various kitchens in California, Colorado and Oklahoma.
“Food is amazing. I think it brings people together. It makes for interesting conversation. I think great things happen when groups of people get together, enjoy commonality and talk about experiences,” Reyes said.
Growing up in a family with nine children, Reyes started working early in life so he and his siblings would have enough to eat. They also relied on government-funded ingredients that came in gray boxes labeled “not for resale.”
“I grew up in an extremely humble situation, so food was something I had to learn at a young age for sustenance and -- not being introduced to other things -- you fall in love with it and see there’s an actual career here. It was an avenue to get out into the real world and be successful,” Reyes said.
At 17 years old, he moved to San Diego to learn how to professionally cook at a Job Corps-supported culinary trade school. He graduated from a novel program that allowed students to learn a trade while simultaneously studying to earn their GED and high school diploma.
His first internship out of high school was under a Michelin-starred chef, Laurent Gras, at the Hotel Palomar San Francisco. Gras trained Reyes to measure ingredients with a ruler and precisely plate meals for a fine dining customer base. He also learned fish eggs were a delicacy, not just fishing bait.
“Even though I was working for free as an intern, I had to interview for the position. Something he said to me was, ‘if you want to get paid go somewhere else. I pay you in knowledge,’” Reyes said. “I said, ‘awesome, that’s what I want.’”
Reyes went on to work for seven and a half years as a sous chef and executive sous chef for Michael Jordan’s Steak House at Mohegan Sun casino and resort in Uncasville, Connecticut.
“Toward the end of my time there, I ended up being one of the strongest chefs they had who could cook and expo. I would cover for other chefs during vacations and go on the line and cook 300 to 400 steaks by myself,” Reyes said.
He recalled working for 24 hours while the restaurant was closed for renovations and oversaw the installation of new kitchen equipment.
“That was on 20 minutes of sleep in a booth with a pillow behind my head,” Reyes said.
Reyes joined Sage Hill in April to lead the FLIK dining services team in a bold new direction. Most recently, he worked as a traveling chef for FLIK Hospitality Group, filling in at various kitchens in California, Colorado and Oklahoma.
“Food is amazing. I think it brings people together. It makes for interesting conversation. I think great things happen when groups of people get together, enjoy commonality and talk about experiences,” Reyes said.
Growing up in a family with nine children, Reyes started working early in life so he and his siblings would have enough to eat. They also relied on government-funded ingredients that came in gray boxes labeled “not for resale.”
“I grew up in an extremely humble situation, so food was something I had to learn at a young age for sustenance and -- not being introduced to other things -- you fall in love with it and see there’s an actual career here. It was an avenue to get out into the real world and be successful,” Reyes said.
At 17 years old, he moved to San Diego to learn how to professionally cook at a Job Corps-supported culinary trade school. He graduated from a novel program that allowed students to learn a trade while simultaneously studying to earn their GED and high school diploma.
His first internship out of high school was under a Michelin-starred chef, Laurent Gras, at the Hotel Palomar San Francisco. Gras trained Reyes to measure ingredients with a ruler and precisely plate meals for a fine dining customer base. He also learned fish eggs were a delicacy, not just fishing bait.
“Even though I was working for free as an intern, I had to interview for the position. Something he said to me was, ‘if you want to get paid go somewhere else. I pay you in knowledge,’” Reyes said. “I said, ‘awesome, that’s what I want.’”
Reyes went on to work for seven and a half years as a sous chef and executive sous chef for Michael Jordan’s Steak House at Mohegan Sun casino and resort in Uncasville, Connecticut.
“Toward the end of my time there, I ended up being one of the strongest chefs they had who could cook and expo. I would cover for other chefs during vacations and go on the line and cook 300 to 400 steaks by myself,” Reyes said.
He recalled working for 24 hours while the restaurant was closed for renovations and oversaw the installation of new kitchen equipment.
“That was on 20 minutes of sleep in a booth with a pillow behind my head,” Reyes said.
After seven years of long days cooking in restaurants, Reyes decided it was time for a career change and made the pivot to corporate dining. That eventually led him to working for a Google dining contractor through 2022 before coming to Sage Hill this spring.
When the first day of the 2023-24 school year kicks off, students can expect an array of new aromas to percolate from the FLIK café. Reyes plans to restructure the café with a rotating daily menu of two meal options. One will be a higher-end, to-go meal like ribs. The other will be a more refined plated experience with ingredients like quinoa.
“I asked myself if I had a child, what would I want them to eat? I could probably tell you I don’t want them to eat anything that comes out of a box that’s processed with a bunch of things you can’t understand or pronounce unless you’re a scientist.”
Sage Hill School
Sage Hill School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, and athletic and other School administered programs.