Angel Soto: Q&A

With almost four decades of creating menus and serving students, you could say chef Angel Soto is a familiar and welcome face in the dining halls at UConn. After graduating from the culinary arts program at EC Goodwin Tech, Angel got his hands-on experience serving large groups through food services in the Army. In 1996 he retired from the Army with 20 years of service, four years in active duty and the remainder in the reserves. After leaving active duty he joined UConn Dining Services and also returned to EC Goodwin Tech for a few years as a chef instructor for the adult bilingual education program.

Today you can find Angel in Buckley Dining Hall whipping up omelets for students to start their day. He also currently serves as the UNITE Here Steward and Executive Board Member.

What do you love about working at UConn?

What I enjoy about working at UConn is the interaction and service we provide to our students. The greatest satisfaction for me is receiving the many thanks and compliments from students on a daily basis and for that I’m grateful!

Working at UConn has allowed me to meet many people with skills that have influenced me in many ways. With skills gained along the way, I’ve been able to continue my passion for creating menus and keeping my love for the culinary arts alive.

I have achieved many accomplishments throughout my 39 years in food service here at UConn, but the two achievements that stand out the most for me was receiving the SUBOG Employee of the Month in 1985, voted on by the students and Employee of the Year in 2011, voted by my peers.

What is your favorite thing to cook at UConn?

I enjoy cooking all types of food, but my favorite would have to be whipping up omelets at the omelet station. We provide students with many options to create their omelets and working at this station allows me to interact with the students and for me, that is so rewarding!

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

I cook many meals at the home front, but believe it or not I’m not the head chef at home, my wife is!  She’s a great cook and I appreciate her taking that duty on. But when I do cook at home my family would say that their favorite is my Puerto Rican cuisine dishes. I grew up in a very large family with six brothers and four sisters. You would often find my mother in the kitchen creating Puerto Rican dishes for my siblings and me. I would say she and many of my aunts influenced me to become a chef!

“I love coming up with new concepts, every day brings a different challenge and a new solution.”

Production Chef Kelly Haggerty takes her inspiration and passion for cooking from the backgrounds and cultures of the many different people she meets in life. Because she is a chef, the topic of food usually comes up and the traditions and stories of food that others grew up with inspire her to be creative and to put her own unique spin on it.

Kelly’s culinary background began at the Western Culinary Institute (Le Cordon Bleu) in Portland, Oregon where she obtained her associate’s degree. She then worked for five years at Todd English’s Tuscany at Mohegan Sun, a high volume fine dining restaurant, where she became the first woman master cook. She was also a pastry chef for Latitude 41 in Mystic, CT and helped the company with their sister restaurants Mystic Market West and Aspen in Old Saybrook, CT.

Arriving at UConn in 2010, Kelly started as a chef assistant at Union Street Market and within a year was promoted to chef and then production chef. In April 2019 she made the move to Whitney and Buckley dining halls as their production chef.

What’s her favorite meal to cook? Outside of UConn Kelly keeps dinners at home very simple but if she is going to a gathering or feeling creative, her go-to is rustic Italian food which usually consists of a four-course meal.

Kelly’s diverse skills as a chef have allowed her to participate in two American Culinary Federation competitions during her time at UConn. With each year there is a new food trend, so recipes are always evolving which she feels keeps on her toes.

UConn’s Bakery “Not Just Desserts” produces hundreds of thousands of desserts and baked goods each year – over 90,000 just in chocolate chip cookies! Pastry Chef Crystal Russell has been with the team since 2003 creating sweet treats for the campus community.

Crystal arrived shortly after she graduated from Windham Tech’s Culinary program where she had received the Baker of the Year Award – an award that hadn’t been given out in 3 years.

Over the last 16 years she has built up her skills with hands on learning from the bakery managers. What she loves most about her job is the freedom to experiment, create and seeing her recipes on a menu. Her favorite pastry to make at UConn is Danish because there are so many options with shapes and fillings.

Although she is creating thousands of sweet pastries each year, don’t count her out of the savory game! At home she is known to make a mean crab rangoon and beef wellington!

Susan Chang’s love for cooking began as a child growing up in Taiwan. With no formal education, she learned everything with on-the-job training. Her grandfather was also a chef and she recalls that he always had a stern look on his face since he took his work so seriously.

Being in family-owned restaurants has been the backbone of her culinary career. In 1985 she moved with her family to the United States where she was part owner and operator of the restaurant they opened in Nebraska. She then moved to New York to work in another family-owned restaurant, eventually landing in Storrs.

In 1998, Susan and her family purchased a restaurant in downtown Storrs and opened Chang’s Garden, serving authentic Chinese food to the UConn community for many years. Although Susan and her sister have since sold the restaurant, it is still called Chang’s Garden and in operation today.

After leaving the restaurant business, Susan started as a kitchen assistant at UConn Dining in 2010, eventually working her way up to a chef three years later. She currently works as a chef at South Dining Hall where a variety of international foods are served. For Susan, food and family have always gone together and she often brings specialty/authentic foods from home to share with staff and managers. She takes a great deal of pride in her work and food, loves her job and says the students at UConn help to keep her young!

Get to Know Chef Chang:

Favorite Quotes: “Cooking is a craft, I like to think, and a good cook is a craftsman — not an artist. There’s nothing wrong with that: The great cathedrals of Europe were built by craftsmen — though not designed by them. Practicing your craft in expert fashion is noble, honorable, and satisfying.” – Chef Anthony Bourdain

“The way you make an omelet reveals your character. – Chef Anthony Bourdain

Cooking Philosophy: I love to cook and watch students (and others) enjoy the food I make.

Cooking Secret: Using pizza dough to make scallion pancakes.