Belmont High School chef Alan Yen is no stranger to getting creative with food.
Each day, the high school and middle school cafeteria is stocked with fresh produce and an array of freshly prepared meal options for a variety of dietary needs. The menu is almost entirely designed by Yen, who values using locally sourced ingredients and providing a range of healthy items.
Yen got to put his creativity to the test last month when he competed in the Chef Culinary Conference’s version of Cutthroat Kitchen, a cooking competition run by celebrity chef Jet Tila. Yen and his team competed against other chefs from across the country in a series of culinary challenges and “sabotages” designed to push their culinary skills to their limits.
The competition is based on the hit Food Network show by the same name, in which contestants receive a certain amount of money to spend however they wish during the game. They spend the money at auctions to get things that could help them or hinder their opponents, thereby “sabotaging” them.
Yen ultimately came in third place overall, just three points shy of a silver medal.
He was the only kindergarten-through-twelfth-grade chef at the conference, but that didn’t stop him from holding his own in competition, or from sharing the tips and tricks he’s garnered from his two years at Belmont schools.
“This has been such a great opportunity for Alan, showcasing his cooking talent through this competition,” Superintendent Jill Geiser wrote in a statement to The Voice. “We appreciate all the work he and his team do feeding our students.”
From Hong Kong to Belmont
Growing up in Hong Kong, being a chef wasn’t exactly the career Yen had in mind.
He was on track to be an engineer before he moved to the United States when he was 17. He didn’t know any English or have any friends at his new high school.
“The first few months, I wanted to go back so bad,” Yen admitted.
But he was never one to give up easily.
Soon after high school, he got a job at McDonald’s, where he began to pick up more English and first started learning his way around a kitchen. He worked in Chinese restaurants in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood, as well as in the kitchen at Boston College. Eventually, Yen opened his own restaurant in 2001, incorporating recipes and drinks from Hong Kong. He sold it a few years later, though he stayed in the restaurant business.
In 2024, Yen joined Belmont Public Schools, where he works to build recipes, prepare more than 1,500 meals per day, and create a thriving kitchen community.
“I love it every day. I see young people and it makes me younger,” Yen said.
Combining Health and Flavor at BHS
At Belmont High, Yen oversees the preparation of more than 1,500 meals per day throughout the school year for high school and middle school students. As a public school, Yen must adhere to federal nutrition guidelines and be mindful of dietary restrictions across the student body.
At the conference, Yen said he was able to share his own tips and tricks for doing just that. Often, restaurant chefs don’t have to think about the nutritional value of their food; it’s flavor that takes the priority. But in a school cafeteria, Yen is tasked with making sure kids are nutritionally fueled for the day with food that also tastes good.
Sometimes, that means relying on aromatics and herbs to enhance the flavor of the food, rather than ingredients like butter or salt, Yen said. In Massachusetts, every student is supplied with a free breakfast and lunch. However, Food Services Director Jackie Morgan said many kids pay for an additional lunch as well.
“It’s a simple process, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t taste good,” Yen told The Voice inside the high school’s kitchen.
According to Morgan, Belmont works with local farms to supply the school kitchens with fresh produce. Yen often creates the school’s recipes himself, documenting measurements as he goes along.
“He really exposes the students to so many different varieties of fruits and vegetables and foods, [as well as] vegetarian food, every day,” Morgan said.
At the conference, Yen collected a variety of recipes from chefs across the country that he hopes to incorporate into the school breakfast and lunch menu in the fall.
“We’re just trying to make kids be their best,” Morgan said. “You have breakfast, you can be your best. If you have lunch, you can be your best. You can’t be your best if you’re hungry.”
