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Chefs to Watch: UNC-Chapel Hill’s Aramark Chef fancies up down-home Carolina flavorsChefs to Watch: UNC-Chapel Hill’s Aramark Chef fancies up down-home Carolina flavors

Students call him The Fancy Chef. UNC Carolina Dining Services’ Executive Chef Michael Gueiss fancies up Southern favorites keeping the campus well-fed and happy.

Tara Fitzpatrick, Editor-in-Chief

August 19, 2021

Chef Michael Gueiss was a bit taken aback when he overheard a student calling him “The Fancy Chef,” but the nickname is appropriate, given the way he’s elevating the dining game day by day at UNC.

From the nickname came an Instagram video series in which Gueiss shows students some useful culinary basics, from grilling chicken to cutting a bell pepper and working with pineapple, which—fun fact—is an enduring symbol of Southern hospitality. The videos also provided a way for Gueiss to connect with students and keep dining at top of mind (or at least Instagram feed).

For UNC menus shaping up for this new semester, Gueiss is bringing down-home flavors to fine-dining flair in dishes like pulled pork grilled cheese sandwiches.

Gueiss shares his professional journey to the campus chef life and gives us a few sneak previews of new menu items the UNC team will share with students as they arrive back on campus.

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About the Author

Tara Fitzpatrick

Tara Fitzpatrick

Editor-in-Chief, FoodService Director

Tara Fitzpatrick is editor-in-chief of FoodService Director. She previously served as senior editor for Food Management magazine.

At the start of her career, Tara was a reporter for the daily newspaper in her hometown of Lorain, Ohio, where she still resides. She holds a journalism degree from Kent State University. She's also a mom, a pretty good home cook and a fan of ghost stories, folklore, architecture, retro recipes, cheese of all kinds and cats of all kinds.

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