3 minute read
Culinary Genius Abounds at the New Wylie Campus
By Heather Darrow
It’s a few hours before the big event. Five hundred people are waiting. After weeks of experimentation, planning, and fine-tuning, Laz Contreras and his team are ready to make people smile.
“I experience a kind of euphoria knowing I have the opportunity to cook for hundreds of people,” said Contreras, Collin College Wylie Campus Chef Manager. “It’s like Michael Jordan taking the last shot. It is difficult, but I know what my team and I are capable of.”
Known as Chef Laz, Contreras was educated at Le Cordon Bleu in Dallas. His mother was always in the kitchen cooking, but his exposure to the culinary field accelerated when he was 10 years old and his uncle, who was a chef in Germany and later at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, moved from Cuba to live with his family.
“Plating food and helping with photography and videography for my mom’s bridal business opened my artistic side. My uncle did the catering, and I helped out,” Contreras said.
Today, Contreras proudly recreates Mama Lucido’s cherished family recipes in the café that bears her name. Joe Lucido and his wife, Sara, established a student scholarship endowment with the Collin College Foundation in honor of Joe’s mother, Joan.
“Mama Lucido’s macaroni and cheese and lasagna are hearty and filling,” Contreras said. “The lasagna has different cheeses, ground beef, and Italian sausage. The potato salad has a secret ingredient that has a tart flavor. They are all delicious,” Contreras said.
Mama Lucido’s café also offers a pasta bar where guests can choose pasta, sauce, protein, and vegetable, toasted deli flatbread sandwiches, or pizza by the slice. Contreras created the entire grill “Sizzle” menu at the Wylie Campus which offers breakfast and lunch items ranging from eggs and pancakes to burgers, quesadillas, Philly cheesesteaks, and black bean burgers. In addition, he designed a sweet and creamy signature “Cougar Sauce,” named after the college mascot, which he says is a great addition to almost any dish.
The Wylie Campus chef and his team also prepare all the “Grab and Go” items for the college’s Wylie, Frisco,
Chef Laz Contreras at Mama Lucido's Cafe on the Wylie Campus
McKinney, and Technical campuses. Students, employees, and guests in a hurry can enjoy fruit cups, sandwiches, salads, puddings, take-out pastas, Krispy Krunchy chicken, fajitas, or meals such as flank steak with cilantro lime rice and seasoned black beans.
“At Mama Lucido’s café we have everything from vegan to keto to paleo to ‘I just want to gain a few pounds,’” he said, laughing. “We will happily create something that will fit your lifestyle. When you taste these dishes, I want you to remember your mother’s cooking or your favorite restaurant in Thailand, Mexico, or Italy. It is my passion to see people enjoy food.”
Mama Lucido’s café is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday. The Starbucks bar is open from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday.
For more information about the Wylie Campus, visit www.collin.edu/campuses/wylie. •
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