On Monday, November 25, 2024, students said their farewells to Garfield’s head chef, Tabari Ahmad, known as Chef TB.
After 15 years in the culinary field, Ahmad started at Garfield in 2021 and has spent the last four years learning to work in a school kitchen. “This particular environment is a lot different from what I normally do, but it’s also more rewarding,” Ahmad said. “Whenever something happens, everyone pulls together,” Ahmad said. “I burned myself so many times back here but we always came together and got the job done and made sure that every student here had a meal.”
Ahmad’s favorite part about running the kitchen is “the fact that I get to cook a lot of things and introduce them to the students. Things that they may not even try on their own,” Ahmad said. As he cooks these new dishes he loves “seeing that expression on [students] faces like, wow, this is actually really good.”
Garfield’s large and diverse student body means many students have dietary restrictions, but Ahmad can “hook them up really quick.” “Being able to do that to make sure that someone has lunch. It’s always satisfying for me,” Ahmad said.
When cooking, Ahmad likes to focus on the creativity of the meal. “I like it to be visual. If they look good, it’s going to taste good,” Ahmad said. “From the first bite to the last bite, it’s going to be some good food.” One of Ahmad’s favorite things to make has been pasta. “I always make sure I put a lot of emphasis on it because, personally, I like to make pasta and I like to eat it. When I make pasta, I want to make it so it’s good, so people eat it and they’re like ‘oh yeah,’” Ahmad said.
As Chef TB leaves Garfield, his next stop is a corporate job where he’ll be working as “a sous chef [in] a supervisory role,” Ahmad said. He’ll also be working as a coach to help “new cooks who haven’t done this type of work before or older cooks who want to learn something new,” Ahmad explained.
Despite Ahmad’s departure, his assistant chefs will continue working at Garfield. “I started here and they’ve been with me from day one and they are amazing people,” Ahmad said. “They will continue to be amazing. So always come in and show your love. Just because I’m not here does not mean the food is not going to be great. It’s still going to be good even if I’m not here. I promise.”
For Chef TB, Garfield is more than a school. “I feel like I graduated from the school. I feel like a part of the community and I thank [the staff, teachers, and students] for that,” Ahmad said. “Garfield is the school of champions. There’s elite scholars, there’s something for everybody here. So if you don’t have a place where you feel like you don’t belong, then Garfield has something for you.”
