IT is often said of St. Peter�s School in Panchgani that some of the finest meals in the hill-station are to be had in the dining room of this all-boys� boarding school. And Gene Oscar Lee, the smiling and jovial new principal from Ajmer, agrees. �There is great emphasis on food here,� he said. �Parents coming for admissions want to know what kind of food we feed our students.�

St. Peter�s offers a very balanced vegetarian and non-vegetarian diet. The man in-charge of its kitchen, David Noel, is a caterer with 20 years of experience in the Navy. He is a catering college student, has worked as an F&B manager in Bombay, and the camp boss for Shapoorji Construction in the Gulf. His father was the caterer at St. Peter�s and when he suffered a stroke in 1985, David took over. He can cook. And now he caters to the students and staff at St. Peter�s, he plans menus, looks after costings, the stores.

That St. Peter�s is serious about food can also be seen in the appointment of Errol Netto, a food consultant from Bombay brought in to see what improvements might be made in the school�s kitchen and daily menus. The kitchen is staffed by four cooks and five helpers. Breakfast is served in the dining hall at 8 a.m., lunch at 12.15 p.m., tea at 3.45 p.m. and dinner by 7 p.m. �Every meal lasts 30 minutes, the afternoon tea session less than than, because the boys want to run off and play games,� said Lee.

Between David and Noel, St. Peter�s has successfully been giving its boys a balanced and nutritious diet. �We can�t provide the mother�s touch to 300 boys, but we do our best,� said David. The principal added, �Boys will be boys, they are always starving, and want to hog! They will eat anything we put before them. And we have to cook vast quantities. Especially during the summer, when they burn up so much energy.�