Highlights of the FEBRUARY 2013 Issue
PASTA:
Pasta is one of those staples that college and university
foodservice operations love. It is versatile, cost effective
and popular with students.
It is definitely a popular ingredient at Purdue University in
West Lafayette, Ind. “We enjoy cooking with pasta,” said Jill
Irvin, then-director of Residential Dining, who has since left to
become director of Dining Services at the University of Iowa
in Iowa City. “It is very versatile. It is very cost effective. We
try to use it in a number of different cuisines. When we talk
pasta, we aren't just talking about burying a sauce on top of
noodles. We use pasta in salads. We use it in Asian cooking.
We use it in Indian cooking, as well as the usual ways. I don't
think there is a meal that goes by that students can't get pasta
someplace or another. We find it to be an extremely versatile
ingredient that we try to get as much leverage out of as possible.
It is definitely a crowd pleaser.”
Made-to-order pasta dishes are available at two locations on
campus. “At Wiley Dining Court, we feature a different pasta
each day,” she said. “As a customer, you come up and select the
items you want to have sautéed with your pasta. We sauté those
items together in individual skillets. We give that to the student,
and then we have a variety of sauces available for them to dress
their pasta. We have that every single day for lunch and dinner.
It is popular.”
Students can have their own made-to-order baked casseroles
at Earhart Dining Court. “They select their pasta and
their toppings, like vegetables and meats, from our bar and
put it into a casserole dish,” said Irvin. “We then put it through
an impinger to heat it all up. The end result is that the students
have a customized made-to-order pasta dish for themselves.” ...
Read more PERFECT PASTA AT PURDUE ...
For academic year 2012-2013, Stanford University in
California is waging Ramen Wars, a series of cooking
events that bring students and campus chefs together.
Gary Arthur, director of operations for Stanford University's Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) Dining and
Hospitality & Auxiliaries, came up with the idea of Ramen
Wars, featuring the Japanese noodle dish. “I wanted something
to get our chefs closely engaged in cooking with students; it's
all about the interaction between chefs and students,” he said.
Ramen Wars originated in Japan, where ramen masters in
a particular area vie for bragging rights and customers, according
to Eric Montell, executive director of Stanford Dining.
Ramen traditionally consists of wheat noodles served in
a meat- or fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or
miso, and uses a variety of toppings such as sliced pork and
dried seaweed. ...
Read more STANFORD WAGING RAMEN WARS ...
For the 15 years or so that the University of Northern Colorado
in Greeley has offered grab 'n go selections for its
students, the program has been very popular.
“It started out as Lunch on the Run, a pilot program, and
it became really popular,” said Hal Brown, director of Dining
Services. “Then we started setting the standards and so forth,
and what exactly we were going to have, and tried to cost that
out because of the extra labor and extra cost of the individual
items and things. We started looking at a name for it, so we
came up with Gourmet to Go. We then moved it to dinner the
following year.”
When Dining Services realized that many students were
not getting up for breakfast, it tried a breakfast Gourmet to
Go test program. “We were trying to figure out how we could
make it more efficient for them,” he said. “When we closed the
dining room, we started breakfast Gourmet to Go to extend
our breakfast hours because students just really wanted cereal,
a piece of fruit or bagel to go. That is how we really got into
the breakfast Gourmet to Go. Since then, it has grown.” ...
Read more BREAKFAST ... ON THE GO ...
In the fall of 2012, Dining and Culinary Services at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM) opened two new major
venues on campus — Gordon Dining and Event Center and Four
Lakes Market in Dejope Hall.
“This was not the original plan; the original plan had Dejope Hall
opening two years ago, but we had issues getting it through the state building
commission,” said Joie Schoonover, director of Dining and Culinary Services.
“We couldn't get approval, so it was postponed a couple of years; so they collided.”
Although the daunting task of opening the two facilities simultaneously was not the original
plan, doing so had its benefits. “In reality though, as much as it seems crazy, by opening two
large dining units at the same time, it enabled us to really assess our systems and staffing, and that is probably
something we wouldn't have taken as close a look at had we done them separately,” she said. “We were
able to assess where we needed people, and what classifications we needed. I don't know that we would not
have done that if we had done each unit separately. We did that with the management team as well.” ...
Read more UWM OPENS TWO MAJOR FACILITIES ...
