Beyond the Grill

Serving up 500 omelets a day, Wallace Burrows Jr. is a familiar sight to students at The Marketplace. Few students, however, know much about Wallace’s passion for artwork and the lasting impressions that the students he serves leave with him. Wallace sat down with The Chronicle’s Tong Xiang to discuss his varied interests.

The Chronicle: What’s your typical day?

Wallace Burrows Jr.: I get up in the morning at 3:30 a.m. to make sure that my kids have everything they need for school. I get in at about 5:45 a.m., I work at the grill 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. I clean the window at the grill, make sure everything’s there. I have two wells heated. Have all my vegetables and meats. I put out ice for all the eggs and stuff. I open at 7:30 a.m., and from there the line just comes in and there’s about 20-25 people at a time. I try to talk to them, make sure that they feel like a person while they’re standing there.

TC: What’s your role at The Marketplace?

WB: I’m a lead foodservice worker. I can tell you what’s going on at my station, what’s going on at The Marketplace. And I try to engage people—like a lot of people last week for the Back to East event for graduation, I remembered a lot of people’s orders from freshman year. I take eggs, and you tell me what you want, and I’ll try to add color to it in bright, vivid colors. Like painting with broccoli, tomatoes, banana peppers, ham, bacon, chicken, steak, green peppers, red peppers, jalapeño peppers, carrots and red onions. The light’s shining on it, and the grill is the canvas. I start out with the eggs. I always put a little garnish on top, to make the omelet stand out.

TC: How many omelets do you make in a day?

WB: If I had to guess, I would say more than 500 on a rough, hard day. The least would be 300.

TC: Tell me about yourself.

TC: Tell me about some of the people that you remember.

WB: Meeting people at Duke has made a big difference, it’s the best part. Grant Hill was here when I first came, and a lot of athletes used to come over to the [Central Campus Pub] to play basketball. It was a little pub, just like Cheers—everyone knows your name. Sold foundational drinks, beer, wine coolers. We couldn’t sell liquor, but they drank liquor though [laughs]. Kids are kids. And then I worked at the Kudzu Tavern, which is now the Devil’s Den. But then I decided to go to East. And a lot of kids say that I made a lasting impression on them, but I think they made a lasting impression on me. One who made that kind of impression was Charles Bowen—who’s now a lawyer—who used to come in the Pub every day. He was military, chewed a lot of tobacco. We became friends. And there was this cute young girl, really pretty who used to always sit in the back and study. And I always told him, “Hey Chip, go talk to her, man!”

Long story short, I kept messing with him for like a year until he said something. They became friends, started dating, and him and Sue finally got married. He helped me start off my small art business, gave me some capital for computers.

TC: Tell me about your artwork.

WB: My family’s got a few business ventures, we’ve got a home daycare, my wife’s a beauty consultant, I’ve got my artwork. Bukitbrand, or Bukithead Productions is the name of my art company. It comes from this little kid in Duke TIP. His friends bet him $5 that he wouldn’t wear a Ben and Jerry’s bucket on his head for the whole day. He kept wearing the bucket after that, and every year after that he kept wearing the bucket. And he kept growing. He took duct tape and taped it so that it’d fit his head. He probably wore it for four years. And on his last year, I saw him, and was like, “Bucket Boy, what’s up? You’re still pumping the bucket, huh? Can I ask you a question? Do you wear the bucket to school?” He came over to the grill and was like, “Are you serious? It’s just a camp thing.” He told me he wears it ‘cause it gives him attention. I said, “I like your attitude, you a character. I want to paint you a shirt.” And so I made him a shirt with a buckethead. And it was my first shirt. I sell my airbrushed shirts for $30. I’m self-taught; I’ve got a gift from God.

TC: Do you work in any other kinds of mediums?

WB: I also do canvas paintings. I’ve got a painting of Nolan Smith, Jason Williams, Luol Deng, Sheldon Williams, Shavlik Randolph, Mike Dunleavy, Chris Duhon, Reggie Love, Gerald Henderson. I wanted to do Kyrie, but…[laughs]…I ain’t gonna say nothing about that. Right now I’m trying to put together a book, with all my Duke artwork in one place. “Our only limitation is your imagination” is our defining motto.

TC: Are you in the Dining Employee’s Union? How does it work?

WB: It’s called Local 77. It’s an individual choice to be in the union, but it gives me benefits like defending our interests, representing us. I can’t say too much.

TC: What do you like the most about what you do?

WB: One thing that I do like about the omelet station is if you do your job well, deal with people like they’re not a number, you can have fun, you can develop your own technique. If you make people remember you based on how you treated them, you can bring a little positivity in the world. There’s so much negativity on the news, you can almost get depressed. If you’re nice to other people, I truly believe that it’ll come back to you. I see it as reciprocity.

I used to drink a lot, dabbled with drugs and chased a lot of women. And to be totally honest, I caught a lot of them [laughs]. Years ago, in 1991, I made a commitment to live better and Christ after my grandmother passed and I saw two people get murdered. We have to value life. You have lift other people up, and people with a positive attitude lift me up.

TC: What do you remember most during your time at Duke?

WB: What really sticks out is when people at The Marketplace get in a jam, they come together. Just like a family. Someone left me a letter one time, and it was real encouraging and positive. They basically said that, “I want to let you know that you’ve made a positive difference in my life, and you are very influential and God bless you and your family.” And that stands out.