Those are house-made tortillas on the beef brisket tacos! And that’s pasta primavera with chicken, packing a heavy veggie punch with roasted squash, zucchini, red bell peppers and steamed broccoli tossed in a creamy blend of Alfredo sauce and pesto. Beef enchiladas with yellow rice and peas, yes please!

In New London, the professionally trained chefs of a company called Brigaid have helped to transform school lunch. Here, 85 percent of what is served to students is scratch cooking. The lettuce on today’s salad was grown at Hunt’s Brook Farm in nearby Quaker Hill and the sandwich rolls were delivered this morning from New London Bakery.

New London isn’t the only school district Brigaid serves, but it was the first. In 2016, Founder and CEO Dan Giusti, former head chef of Noma restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark, began his push to replace processed foods with wholesome cooking wherever masses of people are being served. Brigaid is now at work in schools in Denver, Buffalo, and throughout the Bay Area in California, and, their latest venture, in prisons in Maine.

Brigaid serves nourishing, thoughtfully prepared food to 182,000 people daily—over 30 million meals per year, and its reach is set to double in 2023.

Brigaid’s nationwide model was fine-tuned in New London—less takeover, more collaboration. Chefs brought their culinary expertise and experience working in professional kitchens to join forces with the district food service director, who understood how to develop recipes at scale that comply with federal guidelines.

“This is the biggest restaurant in town,” affirms Samantha Wilson, New London child nutrition director. Attention is given to the student diners’ whole experience: the way the fruit is placed in the baskets, the layout of the grab-and-go coolers, how food is neatly dished up, and that smile as a plate is handed over.

School lunch math typically looks like this: One protein, one grain and a hot vegetable = $1.25 per meal in food costs. But Brigaid school lunch magic eats like this: biscuits warm out of the oven with lemon thyme chicken and mashed sweet potatoes; or whole grain rotini Bolognese, homemade focaccia and garlic broccoli.

The learning curve has included fails, though. Not a hit—New England fresh catch fish, lasagna and mojo Cuban roast pork.

“Why wouldn’t kids want these?” muses Wilson. “The staff think they’re delicious. But if the students don’t, they won’t eat it, and then they’re going hungry.

“Kids might just want an honest turkey sandwich or sun butter and jelly, or a chicken Caesar salad that’s familiar,” she says. “We need to be dependable and consistently offering them something nutritious that they want to eat.”

The 30 entree recipes in rotation now have been tweaked to perfection, like creamy mac and cheese given a last minute blast of heat to melt and bubble a cheddar cheese blend topping; or a comforting plate of meatloaf, crispy kale and mashed potatoes. The Brigaid kale recipe is a great way to get kids to eat—and enjoy—their veggies. Chefs dress kale leaves with oil and sprinkle with salt and then bake on sheet pans at 300 degrees for around 12 minutes…turns out great every time!

This is the cafeteria food students here expect. New London sixth-graders have had Brigaid meals all the years they’ve been in school. They’ve never seen a processed chicken patty sandwich on the lunch menu, nor chocolate or strawberry milk.

“We have not served a chicken nugget since I’ve been here,” says Alex Leigh, Brigaid district chef. “Our kids only know roasted chicken, white milk and tacos made from scratch.”

Best of all, lunches are free to all students, thanks to the USDA’s Community Eligibility Provision for schools in low-income areas, which provides reimbursement for every student meal served. There is also a free breakfast program with hot choices like breakfast burritos, French toast sticks, scrambled eggs or warm cinnamon rolls made with 50 percent whole wheat flour, and cold selections like smoothies, yogurt parfaits and cereal.

Want to taste for yourself? Monthly community meals, priced at just $5 per dinner, are open to the public. Dive into dishes that are on (or are being tested for) the student lunch rotation. A recent menu featured Peruvian spiced chicken, rice and beans, elote and tres leches cake. This year, the high school’s culinary students are making the desserts.

As Brigaid continues to grow, culinary team members are ever more impressive. What lures Michelin-starred and James Beard Award-winning chefs to leave swanky restaurants in favor of school kitchens? Better hours, benefits, pay, the chance to use their skills to make change that matters…and appreciation.

“My first round of applause from a cafeteria full of kids was about cheeseburgers and potato wedges,” declares Leigh of the “220 middle-schoolers going nuts, cheering and dancing, that gave me all the vibes. Working with kids… this is where I need to be.”

$5 COMMUNITY MEALS BY BRIGAID

Once a month, New London Public Schools and the Child Nutrition Program host a community meal at C.B. Jennings International Elementary Magnet School, 50 Mercer St., New London. This is an opportunity to engage with the school district and get a chef-cooked dinner with dessert for $5. The next community meal is scheduled for Wednesday, February 15, from 5 to 6 p.m. For more information or to view the schedule, visit the New London Public Schools website at newlondon.org/nlpsd and click on the calendar.