Matthew Rolfs is a northern-bred cook with an appetite for Southern cuisine. He is bringing that and more to the table as the new chef at Tanner.
“I love to cook. I’ve been cooking ever since I was 14 years old,” said Rolfs. “I attended culinary school in Florida, where I learned to cook from some really talented southern cooks. We were cooking fried chicken, catfish, greens and mac n’ cheese. There’s nothing like good southern food. It was delicious and everyone enjoyed it. I like the comfort and healing properties of good food, and that’s one of the reasons I enjoy cooking.”
After culinary school, Rolfs was cooking in small restaurant kitchens, working his way up to cooking in top-tier hotels and restaurants, and he discovered another passion for cooking while working as head chef at an assisted living facility in Gainesville, Fla.
“Hospitals are such a big part of a community,” said Rolfs. “This is where people bring their loved ones to get better when they’re feeling sick. It’s where they come to have their babies. I like cooking in health care because it involves nourishing a community. Cooking in Gainesville, I felt like a part of the family and really connected to the community. I’m really enjoying the community here at Tanner, too, and I’m glad to be a part of the team.”
Rolfs said that another part he’s enjoyed about coming to Tanner is working with great cooks, especially because the cooks at Tanner love what they do.
“I am here working with cooks who’ve been preparing food for nearly 45 years. They have history here,” said Rolfs. “They’re here every day cooking and serving, and they’re dedicated. It’s been great coming into a kitchen that’s already running so well. They’re all a huge part of the health care team. We’ve got a great responsibility and no one here takes it lightly. That’s what you have to understand about working in a hospital: you are a part of people’s health and wellness. We have a responsibility to the patients, to the customers and to the team members who eat here.”
Every day, Rolfs and his team supplies food and nutrition services for the Tanner hospitals in Carrollton and Villa Rica, and Bremen, as well as the inpatient behavioral health facility Willowbrooke at Tanner in Villa Rica.
He said that having experience in industries like hospitality helped prepare him for his culinary career in health care, and while working as a chef at one of the largest hospitals in Florida, he developed his own recipe for success.
“At the beginning of my career, I was at was a sous chef at the UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Fla.,” said Rolfs. “That was a hospital system with about 900 beds. We had four chefs in that kitchen. I was responsible for writing menus, catering and purchasing, but we all worked together to serve. Teamwork is the secret ingredient. It was fantastic how well we worked together, and we are working with that same level of teamwork here.”
Rolfs said that he is focused on his vision for the Tanner Café: to deliver something special for everybody every day.
“I have some goals set for myself and my team,” said Rolfs. “I’m writing new menus, working with the catering cooks, purchasing managers and dieticians. I’m learning the distribution schedules and routes and who’s doing what and who’s going where. I am focusing on the team and bringing all the components of our kitchen together to introduce new menus and more variety. There can be a balance on the menu. Regardless of a person’s diet, you have to offer quality food that’s both delicious and nutritious. We’ve got a great team and good leadership who are here working together to deliver something special.”