Employee Feature: Kris
EMPLOYEE FEATURE: KRIS
Meet Kris: A true goofball, hard worker, and a very well-rounded employee.
Kris started at Aslan in August 2020 as a dishwasher and since has worked in numerous positions. It was hard to move up, starting as a dishwasher, but he trained himself on the line and in the prep kitchen during his downtime and eventually worked his way up to prep cook, line cook, and kitchen lead. In May 2024 he moved to the front of house for a more well-rounded work experience and is one of our favorite support staff, flexing between hosting and running and even taking on extra tasks like cleaning the beer lines. His goal with this job is to become a bartender so he can serve his friends in the kitchen their shift beers.
During his time on the line, Kris’s favorite menu item to make was the grilled cheese. It has a romano cheese crisp on the outside that he liked to make look pretty. His favorite thing to eat at work is a little different; After eating the same items for a few years he made up the “Kris special,” a rice bowl with karaage chicken tossed in pepper jam, pickled daikon and carrots, and cucumbers all garnished with sesame seeds, green onion, and sweet chili sauce.
Kris’ favorite part of working at Aslan is * drumroll please*…. The Disco Lemonade! And the people of course.
“I THINK THE PEOPLE MAKE ASLAN WHAT IT IS, AND IT'S REALLY REFRESHING TO GO INTO WORK WITH PEOPLE THAT CARE AND PEOPLE THAT YOU WANT TO BE AROUND.”
Kris has a few close friends here at Aslan and was initially recommended by his older sister Kari. They both have a great sense of humor and tricked most of the staff into thinking they were twins, but they also knew how to work really well together.
“KARI WAS SUPER HELPFUL AND HONESTLY TAUGHT ME MOST OF THE STUFF I KNOW. I'M SO FORTUNATE TO HAVE WORKED UNDER SUCH A STRONG, AMAZING WOMAN, AND GET SO MUCH GOOD ADVICE TO TRANSLATE INTO ME BECOMING A LEAD.”
Kris also worked closely with Jackson, a long-time friend of his. One of his favorite memories here was dishwashing alongside Jackson
“WE HAD BOTH GOTTEN PRETTY GOOD AT IT, AND OUR CHEMISTRY WAS SUPER GOOD. I WOULD TURN THE CORNER, HE'D JUST LOOK, I'D THROW A DISH AT HIM, AND HE'D CATCH IT AND SPRAY IT. IT WAS PRETTY COOL.”
When Kris is not at work, he is in school full-time for Electrical Engineering and is in the Marine Corps. Both contribute to his work ethic and what he called his “endless motor.”
He snowboards in the winter, loves to sing along to his “Dreamy Golden Monday Afternoon” playlist, which consists of Indie/Folk artists such as Shakey Graves and Noah Kahn, and last but certainly not least, loves Legos. He even went by the nickname Lego for a couple of years while working at Aslan!
Kris is graduating next year and wants to pursue his career in electrical engineering. He is grateful for the experience here, but really we are lucky to have such a great employee!
