In his white cooking jacket, Chef Mike Bush seemed like an unlikely outdoors man.
But in nearly eight years with Sodexo, he has never lost his dream of working outside.
"It wasn't any big aspiration to grow up and cook for a living," Bush said. "If I had my way, what I always wanted to do was be a biologist and study nature. My dream job would be to be like a park and games ranger or a game warden."
In his free time, Bush said he enjoyed not only using his hands in the kitchen, but also using them to fish, hunt, camp and garden.
Given his favorite activities it was no surprise Bush, an Omaha native, said he was a meat-and-potatoes-kind-of-guy, preferring to cook them over any other food.
"I'm from the Midwest and the main focus is beef or large portions of protein and potatoes," Bush said. "I like doing prime rib and steaks and stuff like that."
Bush had been working with Tony Hayes, Sodexo General Manager, for 15-16 years off-and-on when Hayes came to Doane. After some employment changes, Hayes contacted Bush when the chef's position opened up.
"Chef Joe (the previous chef) took a job at Kava House Kafe and he (Hayes) called me up and asked if I was interested," Bush said. "I said yes."
Bush said he liked his freedom to be creative with his job.
"I get to experiment and stuff like that," Bush said. "I like the kids and people I work with. It's hard to pick one thing you like about your job."
Before his job at Doane, Bush said he had worked at Creighton, ran a deli shop, and was also a General Manager for Austin Steak House. He had also worked for four different chef's and had learned new skills from each of them.
"I was just like everyone else," Bush said. "I got a job, and excelled with cooking and working with my hands. It paid the bills and I lasted long enough to make a career of it."
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