Meet The Chef.
We had the pleasure of sitting down with Chef David Thornton of Bentonville Public Schools to discuss his extensive culinary career ranging from elite catering to teaching the next generations of chefs, his students.
Chef David began his culinary journey nearly 20 years ago. From his early days as a line cook to becoming a catering entrepreneur, Chef David has seen all areas of the culinary world.
His story began during High School in a small-town steakhouse kitchen of London, Arkansas. Chef David attended college to become a writer but continued his culinary path working in restaurants throughout his college years. After graduation, despite initially pursuing writing in college, it was in a restaurant where he found his true calling—a pivotal moment when he helped a head chef create a new pork dish, sparking his realization that cooking was his path forward.
Chef David’s next step in training took him to Portland, Oregon, where he worked his way up from Sous Chef to Head Chef in Elma, Washington. Eventually, he moved back to Memphis to open his own catering company, Wade and Co. After seven successful years in Tennessee, David returned to Arkansas, where he began serving a whole new audience: students! He quickly moved his way from head chef of Greek life at The University of Arkansas to being the regional supervisor overseeing dining operations at five major universities in the south. This paved the way to 15 years of serving students and shaping their culinary experiences.
"I create exciting new recipes for school food—so it doesn't taste like school food!"
Now in his 7th year at Aramark...
David is the district head chef of Bentonville Public Schools. He has made it his mission to “create exciting new recipes for school food—so it doesn't taste like school food!”. He loves crafting innovative recipes to make student meals more delicious alongside his Culinary Alliance peers, where he is 1 of 20 of our expert chefs.
A true highlight of his role is the culinary classes he teaches twice a week to elementary, junior, and high school students. These classes are a hit among the students, who eagerly participate and show a genuine love for cooking. In his classes, Chef David emphasizes the importance of each ingredient and even applies their math skills to measuring.
His most popular recipe? Homemade scones! Chef David says he truly feels like the spokesperson for food at his schools and finds so much joy in knowing he can transform student’s experiences in the cafeteria.
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