Meet Benito Suero: Bon Appetit’s new general manager comes with experience and vision

Home News Meet Benito Suero: Bon Appetit’s new general manager comes with experience and vision
Meet Benito Suero: Bon Appetit’s new general manager comes with experience and vision
Benito Suero will take over for David Apthorpe as Bon Appetit’s general manager at the end of the semester. Michael Bachmann | Collegian

“Food is life.” 

Benito Suero, Bon Appetit’s new general manager at Hillsdale College, who began working at Hillsdale on March 22 in preparation for the retirement of David Apthorpe, the current general manager, will be taking full control in the fall. Suero has built his career of more than 25 years  in the hospitality industry around this maxim. 

Before coming to Hillsdale, Suero worked for Levy Restaurants, a subsidiary of Compass Group, which provides food services for sporting and entertainment venues such as the Chicago Cubs, the Florida Marlins, and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Suero has also been involved with catering for the Grammys, the Kentucky Derby, and various high-end weddings. 

Despite his passion for service, Suero has not always worked in the industry. At age 19, he graduated from the Control Data Institute with a computer engineering degree and began working as part of an installation team for a computer software company. 

“I found that I was much better with people than I was with machines,” Suero said. 

Suero’s career then took a 180 when he began taking jobs as a dishwasher, line cook, short order cook, and eventually, kitchen manager. Although he has no formal culinary training, he says he is “well versed on all things food and hospitality,” with a special emphasis on premium catering.

His approach to food service at Hillsdale, he said, will be no different than when he worked at high-end venues and VIP weddings, some of which have cost more than $140,000.

“Everybody deserves to be treated with the same amount of attention to detail as if they were paying $140,000,” Suero said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re paying $50 or $50,000, the highest quality attention to detail and excellence in execution should be the same.”

Apthorpe had high praise for his successor. 

“We were really looking for someone that had a strong organizational and catering background to oversee that department and who has an understanding of the mission and outlook of Hillsdale College,” Apthorpe said. “Benito brings a lot of varied experience and great interpersonal skills that can bring people together.” 

According to sous chef Christian Willoughby, Suero is looking to take what Apthorpe and Bon Appetit “have accomplished even further”. 

For his part, Suero said his goal is to protect Hillsdale from the “transactional” quality of food that he believes has become prevalent in America.  

“Life is based around food—good, high-quality, flavorful food,” Suero said. “In our society we have gotten away from that. Food has become very transactional. You just pick up a burger for a quick bite. Are you really tasting that? Is it really part of the experience, or is it just something that you have to do?” 

Already, Suero has begun implementing changes in Knorr Dining Hall to improve diners’ experience. Two weeks ago, he arranged for a theme night—Wing Wednesday—which he hopes to do again, and Tuesday April 13, he introduced a new lunch item at Passport, a donut burger served with an ice milk treat and kettle chips. 

“I first heard about the burger on social media and thought the person had gone off campus to get it,” freshman Truman Kjos said. “When I realized it was in the dining hall, I rushed to get it. It did not disappoint.” 

Suero also hopes to update the decor in the dining hall to make it more distinctly Hillsdale.

“When you walk in, nothing but little pennant banners tell you that this is Hillsdale’s dining hall,” Suero said. “I want to include pictures and jerseys, and notable graduates.” 

According to Suero, he has received a warm welcome in his first three weeks at Hillsdale. 

“I have really enjoyed meeting the staff here,” Suero said. “We have an excellent core of team members who truly put in a hard day’s work to accomplish the missions of Hillsdale. The student body is also one of the most well mannered student bodies I have ever engaged with. It really is a unique environment.” 

Suero added that he feels especially comfortable at Hillsdale because it reminds him of the rural Illinois community from which his family hails. 

“It sounds trite, but Hillsdale already feels like home.”