The kitchen is open: SWCC Chefs become a campus staple

An open sign flickers to life, and the SWCC Chefs kitchen is open. It’s time to see what’s on the menu from Chef Gunner and Co-Chef Kegan.

The CAM graduates star in their own social media channel - SWCC Chefs. The videos feature sophomore Gunner Namanny and freshman Kegan Croghan, both of Anita, cooking up requests in a Southwestern Community College dorm room.

“We were like making steaks or something and we got this bright idea to record us cooking food,“ Chef Gunner said. ”And that’s basically how it started.”

Gunner’s roommate Ryan Bower, a sophomore from Massena, became the group’s social media manager.

“They were the ones cooking,” Bower said. “They had mentioned we should video it, so I said I’d video it and edit it for you guys and all that.”

They posted their first TikTok Sept. 9 — “Day one of cooking in the dorm rooms.” In this video, the pair made a bacon cheeseburger chip dip.

“Go ahead and leave what you want us to cook next in the comment section,” Chef Gunner said at the end of the video. This led to a second video where the two made a commenter’s request for tacos.

Despite the stereotypes of college students only cooking things like ramen and Hot Pockets, Chef Gunner and Co-Chef Kegan are proving young men can make gourmet meals like carne asada tacos, homemade pizza and pork ribs all from a dorm room.

“Gunner is actually a chef at The Redwood [Steakhouse] in Anita,” Kegan said. “And then I’ve always been a big fan of food.”

Viewers got used to seeing certain things in the videos like a little skeleton, a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch on top of the fridge and, of course, the neon open sign.

It doesn’t take long after Ryan presses “post” for visitors to come by.

“As soon as they see the video come out, they come knocking on the door,” Kegan said.

Wednesday during SWCC Days, the SWCC Chefs had their own table set up in the Student Center where they were giving out pickle wraps and homemade chocolate chip cookies. The skeleton, ranch and open sign were all out for fans to see.

With 800 followers in just over a month, the SWCC Chefs are planning to continue cooking online for their fellow Spartans, even adding in some fun reaction takes.

Despite their obvious talent with a spatula and seasonings, none of them are pursuing a career in the food industry.

Chef Gunner and Ryan are studying electrical technology while Co-Chef Kegan is a welding and technology student.