Forget everything you think you know about “lunch ladies.” Mix in a dash of business savvy and a splash of cutting-edge culture and you have Gabrielle Aguilar. This recent grad, who holds a B.S. in Management, is a nutrition services manager for a local middle school of around 300 students in Evanston, overseeing a staff of five. She’s responsible for all the business functions of the school’s cafeteria, such as tracking inventory and generating profit and loss reports. It’s impressive, but everything you might expect. What may surprise you is Aguilar’s plan for launching a “total experiential destination” restaurant. “I’ve always been involved in food and beverage and hospitality. Right now, working in the school district, I’m still in nutrition and nutrition services. So the business management program is helping me in my career choice right now. But what I like more is its helping me to plan for my future goals to open my restaurant,” said Aguilar. “It’s helping me with creating a process, from beginning to end, so that I have that end result that is fruitful.” That end result is inspired by Aguilar’s family. Combining her Haitian background with her husband’s Mexican heritage, her dream is to bring these cultures together in a restaurant space that could pass as an art gallery. NLU Grad Dreams of Fusion Restaurant By Nicholas A. Love
“Frida Kahlo meets voodoo,” Aguilar joked.
Even with all of her skills, all of her determination and all of her vision, Aguilar would not have made it past the hurdle of getting her business degree without support from the very same family that inspired the plans for her restaurant. “Without all of these components, all of these people, all of this support — I wouldn’t be able to do this at all. My aunt, my father, my step-mother and my husband, they’ve really come together to say, ‘We believe in you, we support you and this is how,’” she explained.
National Louis University VIEW | Spring 2017 9
Powered by FlippingBook