Food service at Fresno City College is a job that requires long hours, hot rooms and constant demands, but there’s at least one employee who looks forward to work in the morning.

Since January 2011, Stephens has been an employee for Taher, Inc., the company tasked with catering meals to the staff and students at FCC.  This of course means hundreds of mouths to feed five days a week, but it’s a challenge that Stephens accepts.

“I like it,” Stephens said. “I’m providing nourishment for the students and the staff.”

Stephens’ interest in the culinary arts began when he was young.  His family owned a soul food restaurant in Oakland and some of his earliest and fondest memories have involved him in the kitchen with his family preparing meals.

Despite his early interests, however, he had another passion that drove him as a young man: football.  Throughout his time at Hoover High School, Stephens played as a running back, all while maintaining the mandatory 3.0 grade point average needed to stay on the team.

“I wanted to take football as far as I could take it,” Stephens said. “All the way to the NFL if possible.”

He also showed an early interest in law enforcement, citing his family heritage as the reason why.

“My father is a retired police officer and my brother is [in the] Fresno P.D. right now,” Stephens said. “Law enforcement is in my blood.”

After graduating, Stephens joined on to the FCC Rams football team just in time to play in the 1998 season.  He played out the year, but an injury to the knee ended his time playing in college.

It was after his injury, however, that he began helping in the preparation of meals at the group homes that he was volunteering with.  It was this, combined with his earlier experiences with food and family that made him decide on becoming a chef.

Stephens took the first steps toward becoming a chef when he attended the culinary arts school  at FCC. He also took classes in food service management and health nutrition.

“When I got into culinary arts, I started having fun.  I started loving it,” he said.

Now, Stephens is back in the school where he honed his craft.

“Fresno City [College] is like my home,” Stephens said,  “so I’m happy to be here.”

In fact, Stephens is motivated by past experience at FCC to do his job, remembering his time as a student and what it meant to him to be hungry on campus.

“I’ve been a student here, so I know how it is to come here and your stomach’s growling and you’re in between classes and you’re hungry,” Stephens said.  “And sometimes, you like a good meal that you [can] see being made right in front of you and that’s what we do here at Taher.”

He has one older brother, a member of Fresno Police Department’s SWAT team and three sisters, the youngest of them being a student at FCC.  This means that Stephens’ sister visits him almost daily.

Even so, the job does have its disadvantages.

In addition to long hours in front of hot stoves and constant orders from the rush of the lunch crowd, Stephens and the rest of the men and women at Taher will often have difficult customers.  Short-tempered students are a reality faced and handled by the chefs.

“Every now and then, we get customers that are a little on the edge,” Stephens said. “You really can’t take it personal because you never know what’s going on in these peoples’ lives … but we have ways of compromising with that.”

Stephens’ way of compromising with people on edge is done by countering their attitude with his own positive one.

“Sometimes when you shrug it off and just keep it positive, it can reflect on them and brighten their day a little bit,” he said.

At the same time, Stephens is aware of the different backgrounds of the countless students he helps.

“Sometimes we’re the most positive thing in their day,” Stephens said. “Some people come from homes where they have different issues and they walk in here and the best part of their day is seeing a smiling face of somebody making them something good to eat.”

Steve Stephens is happy where he is, but is still working towards his goals in life.

Always keeping him sharp is Stephens’ extensive family.  In fact, he frequently has requests from relatives to make favorite dishes of theirs.  As it was family that first sparked his interest in being a chef.

He caters on the side to make extra money and gain further experience.  He is also considering returning to college to get his bachelor’s degree in culinary arts.  From there, he hopes to teach a culinary class.

For now, however, Stephens is glad to work for Taher and even more so, he is happy to help the students and staff, especially his regulars.

“Everyday I come in, I feel appreciated, especially when I see someone come in here more than once,” Stephens said. “I get customers coming in here to see me every day. I makes me feel good to know that they’re putting their nourishment in my hands.”