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Former Google Chef Getting High Marks From Students At William Jessup University

ROCKLIN (CBS13) - A local chef with an impressive resume is turning campus cuisine into a gourmet adventure.

You'd think students in one local university's on-campus restaurant are complaining about the food – chicken strips, pizza – the list goes on. But that's not the case at William Jessup University.

"So tonight we're having roasted rainbow baby carrots. We're having coffee spiced grilled flank steak," said Executive Chef Davin Klippel.

Coffee spiced steak? Roasted rainbow carrots?

"It's pretty delicious," said a student.

The food there is so popular that some students on the campus of William Jessup University in Rocklin are starting to sound like food critics.

"The tenderness of the steak is on point. It's money. And the potatoes are delicious," said a student.

The man behind the rave reviews is busy keeping up with the demand for his dishes.

"Yeah, it gets a little crazy sometimes. It goes long, but it goes fast," said Klippel.

It's fast, like a well-known search engine.

Klippel knows all about that because until 2012 he was a chef at Google.

"I think that's incredible. He's more welcomed here for sure," said a student.

Klippel made the move, in part, because he's in charge of the entire kitchen staff at William Jessup – 32 in total who whip up 600 meals a day.

"Just gonna do a little drizzle of olive oil on top," said Klippel.

His fine touches haven't gone unnoticed by the students and others.

"So it's healthy and it tastes good," said a student.

The restaurant, known as Crossroads Café now gets about 20 percent of its business from people who live in the area. They're finding out what's good for Google is great for them.

The university's cafe also touts a farm to fork approach, using locally grown fruits and veggies.

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