Community & Alumni Blog
Ted talk: Nine facts about Ted Dyck
Get to know Ted Dyck, Director of Food Services at CMU—the man who will be serving up chicken fingers and fries at the upcoming alumni event, Dinner with Ted.
1. He’s a family man. Ted has three grown sons—Neil, Andrew (married to Annali) and Sam (married to Saara), and a stepdaughter named Mary. Ted and his wife, Pat, have been married for four-and-a-half years, and they became grandparents in 2012 when Andrew and Annali’s son, Henry, was born.
2. He likes trying new recipes. Whether or not they end up making an appearance in the six-week meal plan at CMU, Ted is always on the lookout for new recipes and often tries new things at home. He is currently “trying things with paninis” as he and others decide on the menu for the café that will be in the new learning commons, library, and bridge. “I spend too much money on cookbooks,” Ted says, laughing. “Or maybe not enough!”
3. Interacting with students is one of his favourite parts of his job. “The kitchen staff and I get to engage with students every day,” he says. “We’re not just making the food in the back. We serve it... and get to engage with young people in a positive, fun, good way.”
4. He wasn’t always a chef. Ted was working in a group home when he made the decision to enter a one-year culinary arts program at Vancouver Vocational Institute (now Vancouver Community College). The year was 1987, and Ted had a young family to support. Going back to school was a risky move, and stressful at times—Ted commuted from Abbotsford to Vancouver, and often had to be at the school, ready to go, for 7 AM—but it was worth it. “It was an incredible year,” Ted recalls. “The instructors were great.”
5. He enjoys the theatre. Ted has volunteered at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre for more than 10 years. “I enjoy getting out, getting to meet people, getting to help out, and getting to see the plays,” he says.
6. He loves hamburgers. “Big Macs – that, and the Fatboy,” Ted says. So, Big Macs are his favourite? “I (mention) the Big Mac because it’s in my neighbourhood and it’s quick, but I like all kinds.” Still, he exhibits self-control: “I try to keep to (only) one burger meal a week.”
7. His favourite movie is M*A*S*H. Before it was a hit TV show, M*A*S*H was a film. The satirical black comedy was released in 1970 and depicted a unit of medical personnel stationed at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) during the Korean War. “I enjoyed the subversiveness of it,” Ted says. “It appealed to my sense of humour. It’s irreverent toward authority in some ways. It’s dark and funny.” Sound familiar?
8. He is a Formula 1 fanatic. “I get up early in the morning to watch,” Ted says of Formula 1, which for the uninitiated, is a form of single-seater auto racing during which cars make their way around a track at speeds up to 350 km/h. “I PVR the races so I don’t have to be up in the middle of the night to watch it.” Perhaps surprisingly, Ted does not describe himself as a “car guy,” and he doesn’t watch any other form of auto racing. “There’s something about the technology, the speed (of Formula 1). It’s the same thing that appeals to me about certain chefs, certain restaurants. They’re on the edge... The risk, the precision, the engineering—it’s that whole package.”
9. Someone finally gave him some money. Ted has been known to jokingly ask students if he can borrow money from them. “I’ve been asking people for $20 since I got here,” he says. This past year, a student obliged. “Someone finally gave me $20.” It was Monopoly money, but it’s the thought that counts.
Learn more about the May 30 "Dinner with Ted" alumni event here.
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