Vegas Chef to Cook for Olympic Athletes

Vanessa VanderZanden -- Tradeshow Week, 6/14/2004

Jesus Cibrian, Aramark's executive chef at the Las Vegas Convention Center, has been named executive chef for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. While Aramark has been involved in the Olympic Games since 1968, Cibrian was selected this year to head the operations because of the high volume of meals he has grown accustomed to serving over his last year and a half with the LVCC.

"We sometimes serve 70,000 or 80,000 meals over eight hours," Cibrian explained. When he heard he'd been chosen to cook for the Olympics, "I was honored," Cibrian said.

Cibrian, previously executive chef at the Tampa Convention Center, will oversee a crew of 300 who will serve up to 100,000 meals each day at the Olympic Villa. Working with a menu of 250 items designed to accommodate a myriad of dietary and religious restrictions, the buffet-style dining area will serve 16,000 athletes, 5,500 team officials and 10,000 volunteers.

Cibrian left for Greece June 4 to set up his kitchens and take classes in rudimentary Greek and the metric system. He will begin serving meals in the Villa July 1 and continue through Sept. 30. During that period, he expects to serve 2.5 million meals.

If possible, he will sneak out to catch a track and field event or two. After all, Cibrian said, "it's fast and free. You can see the whole thing from beginning to end."