Riegsecker goal: Make ‘people feel cared for and serve them good food’
McHenry, MD – Ben Riegsecker believes a café should be about more than just the food.
“We want to do a good job for the College and have a place where people feel cared for and are served good food,” said Riegsecker, whose Casselman Café will be the new food services provider for Garrett College.
“We’re excited about it,” Riegsecker said of the partnership with Garrett College. “I think this is what we’re supposed to do right now.”
The Casselman partnership isn’t the only new thing about GC’s food services. Casselman will be operating in a totally renovated kitchen and café space when the fall semester begins in September.
“It’s interesting how everything is coming together at once,” said Dean of Business and Finance Dallas Ouellette, who oversees food services for the College. “We’re excited about Ben bringing his team to Garrett College, as well as this opportunity to make a 1980s building serve the students of the 2020s.”
Riegsecker said his team enjoys working with the college-age population.
“We hire a lot of kids in the businesses that we have,” he said. “I’m passionate about creating leaders and making a difference in the community.
“We do a lot of crazy stuff to build a team concept,” added Reigsecker. “One thing I do is I meet with our young employees every month. I bring a problem the business is facing for them to solve. My goal is to constantly grow a bigger bench of leaders.”
From a culinary standpoint, Reigsecker’s philosophy is pretty simple.
“We love making dishes from scratch,” he said. “We want to provide better food – not out of a box – that still tastes good so the kids will eat it.”
Reigsecker – who also owns Casselman Restaurant and Casselman Market, among other businesses – said having a capable staff was a key to taking on the College food services opportunity. He said Lil Bender, who organizes the café system, and Aaron Lapp, who runs Casselman Market, will be two key people in the College café operation.
“I have some awesome people,” said Reigsecker, who was recently elected to the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors.
