But with his new job came an unusual challenge: A woman who couldn't eat gluten, eggs, dairy, soy or nuts without sickening the young baby she was nursing.

Sounds odd? It was to Dolan -- who was educated at a heralded cooking school and earned his culinary chops in Philadelphia, New York City and the Washington D.C. area.

But such was the puzzle facing the new executive chef at UNC Hospitals. The woman's 13-month-old child was having an allergic reaction to something, and doctors were doing the process-of-elimination thing to figure it out. In the meantime, there wasn't much mom could eat.

So Dolan became this woman's personal chef for a couple days, crafting meals out of rice, beans, meats and plaintains so good the woman joked about bringing him home with her.

"She was going stir-crazy," Dolan said. "They were eliminating all these [foods]. It was a challenge."

In an industry where many chefs dream of owning restaurants catering to high society, Dolan's move might seem unusual. But the 36-year-old, who'd had a couple of less-than-stellar hospital food experiences when family members had fallen ill, saw a chance to do something fresh and unusual.

For a few years now, UNC Hospitals has been tinkering with its food service, eliminating fast food franchises; dumping some standard fare like popcorn, nachos and pimento cheese sandwiches; and giving its food terrace an international flavor.

"It was intriguing that they were trying to move it forward in terms of quality and perception," said Dolan, who began work at UNC in February. "I have my opportunities to be creative. At the same time, we have to give the patients what they want."

Dolan lords over a two-pronged food empire. In the kitchen, 50 cooks prepare more than 2,100 meals a day for patients, many with dietary restrictions. And at the various restaurants that cater to hospital visitors and employees, Dolan has control over offerings ranging from a burrito station to an Asian restaurant to a sushi bar. Often, the same fried chicken for sale at the food court is being served to patients.

But there are new obstacles Dolan is still sorting through. Food for patients with special needs -- low sodium, heart-healthy, pureed, clear liquid, or special meals for renal patients -- must first be reviewed by a nutritionist.

"I didn't even know what a renal patient was before I started working here," Dolan said. "A lot of things we consider good, leafy green vegetables, aren't good. So you gotta go a different way."

In making over hospital food, Dolan wants to make it more healthy. To that end, he hopes to phase out the use of high fructose corn syrup and trans fats and lessen the reliance on soy, which, he says, can be harmful in large doses.

Over the last two years, food service at the hospital has experienced a slow but steady renaissance as leaders took it in a new direction. In that time, the hospital has taken over the production and delivery of retail food from individual vendors. In doing so, they've phased out fast food and chain brands almost entirely -- though a new, two-floor Starbucks is now being planned.

The change in food philosophy is an attempt to raise the bar on quality, said Angelo Mojica, the hospital's food service manager and Dolan's boss. Even in a hospital, people expect good food, and the investment has paid off. Mojica said the hospital's sales at its retail food outlets have doubled in the two years since taking over food production from vendors.

And there's other value in offering better food.

"When we bring a tray of food to someone, we're not giving them a needle, we're not taking blood," Mojica said. "It's a positive experience."