Chance and Circumstance

John Athamanah, R.D., manager of foodservices at 49-bed La Rabida Children’s Hospital in Chicago, grew up the son of a restaurant owner. Athamanah never intended to follow his mother’s footsteps into the foodservice industry. After losing weight and getting healthy, Athamanah discovered dietetics, which led him to foodservice management in healthcare.

“My mom currently owns Thai Pastry, a restaurant in Chicago. It’s a full-service restaurant; they serve more than just pastry. The reason it is called Thai Pastry is because my mother came into this country selling Thai pastries. She would make them in the basement and sell them to local Thai grocery stores. She borrowed money and opened a restaurant. In the ’80s she opened up a restaurant called Thai Garden. It did really well, but she got burnt out. She had the urge to do it again seven years ago and opened Thai Pastry.

I did some work with my mom while she was opening the store. I waited tables for a little bit, but I never really did any cooking there. She’s looking for me to take it over, but I like my set hours at the hospital.

I’m a registered dietitian and I started my career in clinical nutrition. I ended up in nutrition because I was really overweight when I started college. I started running and exercising and lost a lot of weight. I read on the Internet that you could see a dietitian. I wasn’t even aware that there was such a profession. The University of Illinois-Chicago, which was where I attended school, had a dietetics program. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and then I found that article online.

I got into foodservice somehow. I really intended to be in clinical nutrition. Now I essentially do what my mother does, but she’s doing it in a retail setting whereas I’m doing it in a hospital setting.

My first job was as a clinical nutrition manager. I was recruited by Aramark and they wanted to know if I wanted to do clinical nutrition and management, and I said sure. I eventually went back to school and got my MBA and worked for Ecolab. I’ve been in hospital foodservice for the past five years.”