THE CONCEPT

J. Mays didn’t need to go to OSU to learn how to cook. He grew up in his family restaurant, Bill’s Fish House in Waurika, Oklahoma, opened by his great-grandparents. There, he got his culinary chops, but in HTM, he learned how to make a living with them.

Mays initially attended OSU as a finance major but quickly changed course. In the HRAD program, he and friend Chris Kana hit it off and planted the seeds for what would blossom into a thriving company — Killer Squid Hospitality, with the name coming from the initials K.S., the same as their fraternity, Kappa Sigma.

Mays and Kana came up with the idea of their first concept in a capstone class: Cafe 7, a fastcasual Italian restaurant inspired by how Chipotle had revolutionized the industry in the mid-2000s.

Mays graduated in 2005, with Cafe 7 opening in 2008. Its success propelled Mays to open other concepts: The Hamilton, an upscale dining experience; and most recently, Dado’s Pizza, a Harlem-inspired concept.

Having three successful concepts isn’t a fluke, and Mays credits OSU with preparing him to innovate and compete.

“A lot of people don’t see hospitality as a career. They see it more as a stepping stone to a career. In my opinion, hospitality is one of the greatest careers,” said Mays, who is also a partner in several Tulsa restaurants. “Yes, you do have some challenging people that you have to deal with. But it’s one of the most rewarding experiences you could do for a career. From that perfect guest experience down to the perfect bite, down to the perfect drink in the perfect evening in the perfect setting. That’s really what we wanted our hospitality crew to reflect was that moment where you just know everything is right. And it just hits you.”

Jeff Denton knows what it takes to keep a restaurant fresh. Denton, affectionately known as Chef Jeff, has been in the kitchen for almost all his life. A 1982 HRAD graduate, Denton remembers having to take beverage education classes at the Holiday Inn off campus and notes how far the program has come since then.

A native of Ponca City, Oklahoma, Denton has been director of child nutrition at Ponca City schools for more than 30 years. He estimates he has supervised over 37 million meals in his time there.

Outside of the cafeteria, Denton is an author, former TV host and has a restaurant concept, TS Fork, in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, that he has made a name for itself over the past decade. In a 105-yearold building, TS Fork is open two nights a week with a made-from-scratch menu that changes every couple of weeks. It gives Denton time to experiment and the people of north central Oklahoma worldclass cuisine.

Denton credits his years of success to his time at OSU.

“I felt like when I was there, I got a very rounded perspective on the business itself,” Denton said. “That set me up to get interviews with companies that I worked at that would normally not hire me. So I think that was critical. I wouldn’t trade my experience at OSU for absolutely anything. And that’s why I bleed orange deep down. That’s why my kids went there.”