Bon Appétit

Pacific Drives Business with a New Food Truck

By Liz Sullivan, Project Assistant

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, left to right: Michael Venckus, regional manager; Aaron Davis, student and contest winner; Sia Mohsenzadegan, general manager; Steve Jacobson, associate vice president of student life

The food-truck craze has taken the U.S. by storm, and Bon Appétit at University of Pacific in Stockton, CA, wanted in on the action -- and to solve the problem of feeding students in out-of-the-way part of campus.  Recordnet.com recently wrote about  the overwhelmingly positive student response to a new Bon Appetit venture -- a bright orange food truck called e.a.t. that rolls up 20 minutes away from the other campus eateries. 

The e.a.t. truck, which stands for “easy artisan takeout,” provides not only delicious, healthy, and convenient meal options for busy students, but also a vehicle (pun intended) for Bon Appetit’s commitment to sustainable food systems. The truck gives students the sustenance they need for an action-packed schedule, and supports the surrounding community by using locally sourced products to create healthy made-from-scratch meals.

Bon Appétit Executive Chef Marco Alvarado has created a creative menu that includes breakfast and lunch options, and the truck has rapidly become popular on campus. Originally expected to serve around 200 students a day with affordable, innovative food, word has gotten out, and that number is currently hovering around 300, reported Recordnet.com. Even staff have even been known to trek across campus to enjoy the affordable and tasty eats.  

After the idea was conceived and logistics were worked out, the truck itself came together rather quickly. Purchased in summer 2010, it took only three months for the truck to be outfitted with commercial-grade restaurant equipment, including a two-basket fryer, a flat-top grill, two burners, four steam tables, refrigeration, storage, a food warmer, a grab-n-go display, and even a point-of-sale system. The POS system was critical, as the article explains: for many students, the ability to quickly swipe their meal plan cards or a major credit card makes the truck especially user-friendly.  

Bon Appetit strives to engage with the needs of the communities we serve. In some places, a static café is perfectly fine; in others, a mobile eatery could be the answer. With e.a.t., even the exterior design of the truck was community driven. Regional Marketing Director Kari Menslage tells us that a campuswide contest called “Bling My Food Truck” yielded the bright citrus-themed design and netted UOP student Aaron Davis $1,000 and the prestige of being voted the winner by his campus community.

The truck is an interesting venture into a new wave of dining models and should provide a useful case study for others considering the idea.    

Yahoo! Crew Goes Cactus Hunting

By Robert Hart, General Manager

Left to right: Posing with their prickly bounty are Jen Takara, café supervisor; Agustina Sanchez, prep cook and cashier; and Juana Ordaz, café utility staff

One doesn’t usually think of the hills in San Jose, CA, as being prime hunting grounds for wild edibles, but Yahoo! Surf's Café Supervisor Jen Takara and her crew in Sunnyvale struck green gold on a hunt for wild edible nopales (cactus paddles).

Though earlier foragers had already harvested the smallest, most tender pieces, they found two huge crops of the wild edibles, with plenty of large paddles as well as “tunas,” the bright red edible fruits of the cactus, available for the picking.

Juana Ordaz, the café’s utility person, shared her favorite home recipe for nopales: De-spine the cacti and thinly slice them, then sauté in oil and garlic. Scramble some eggs right in the same pan and serve the dish with warm tortillas and house-made salsa for a lovely — and vegetarian — breakfast option.

Penn Attracts Foodie Luminary Alums

By Tatianna Losk, Marketing Manager

Author and Penn alum Kim O'Donnel with Houston Market Executive Chef Christopher Smith

The University of Pennsylvania has friends in high places. The Penn Bookstore invited three food-focused alumnae back to their Philadelphia alma mater to talk about their work and share their experiences fostering a more sustainable, but still deeply satisfying and celebratory way of eating.    

First up was author and chef Kim O’Donnel. Flavorful meat-free recipes from her book The Meat Lover’s Meatless Cookbook were offered in Houston Market’s Hemisphere Station, much to the enthusiasm of the author, who hasn't had much opportunity to experience her recipes executed by other chefs. During the lunch period, Kim spoke to students and passed out samples of dishes. Students were excited to meet her and taste the food. Later that evening, she signed books at the Penn bookstore. Kim seemed to especially enjoy meeting Penn’s expert vegan/vegetarian Executive Chef and Chef Manager of Kings Court, Lydia Kumpa.

A few months later, farmer Kathleen Fields came to Wharton’s newly opened Joe’s Café to talk about her 28-acre farm. Flint Hill Farm produces eggs and dairy products and is also an agro-educational facility where the public can learn more about the workings of a farm. Flint Hill’s head chef and cheesemaker, Eric Lipscomb, spoke to guests about the farm, the products, and offered tastes of several different varieties of cheeses and yogurts made on the farm.

The third visitor was guest chef and author of a book on “cooking for an eco-conscious life,” Louisa Shafia. Louisa spoke with students and offered samples of three of her dishes, which were also featured at Houston Market’s Hemispheres section. Louisa later met with executive chefs to exchange ideas and discuss Lucid Food.

The Penn community enjoyed meeting and interacting with their Penn alumni while tasting some very delectable dishes

Helping Small Farmers Tell Congress Why Sustainable Ag Matters

By Maisie Greenawalt, Vice President of Strategy

We recently gave a small donation to help the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) send 30 farmers and farm advocates to Capitol Hill. The group was being gathered to defend sustainable agriculture programs from drastic cuts as Congress worked toward a budget deal. Farmers met with multiple congressional leaders and leaders of the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as the press.

We heard later from Susan Prolman, executive director of NSAC, that three of the farmers who went were from California, including Juan Perez of J&P Organics, pictured here. The farmers shared  personal experiences that really brought home the human, economic, and environmental impacts of sustainable farming practices. 

“Farmers are the best possible spokespeople in support of funding for programs that allow them to farm sustainably,” Susan said. 

We are proud to support these policy efforts on behalf of our more than a thousand small Farm to Fork suppliers. 

When Building a Garden, a Football Team is Pretty Handy…

By Carolina Fojo, East Coast Fellow, Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation

I’m a 5'2", relatively small Latina. Though she’d be loath to admit it, Davina Kwong, the Bon Appétit general manager at Gallaudet University, is even shorter than I am. So recently when we, along with a small group of Gallaudet students, decided to build 14 large raised garden beds, using 952 cinderblocks that each weighed upwards of 25 pounds, and then filling those beds with soil (and I mean lots, and lots, and lots of soil), it quickly became clear that would be in need of some serious reinforcement.

So, naturally, Davina got the Gallaudet football team involved.

 

And let me tell you, if heavy lifting is what you need, then having an entire football team at your disposal is pretty darn handy!

Cooking Up a Creative Summer Camp

By Liz Sullivan, Bon Appétit Management Company project assistant

High school students aren't usually gung-ho about the idea of attending summer camp, but here's a new option that just might have them drooling.

The Culinary Institute at Penn is a hands-on summer program that is attracting students from all over the world. Applications for the program, which runs from July 4  to July 23, are accepted until June 1 -- or until the program is full. 

Bon Appétit Management Company, University of Pennsylvania, and Summer Discovery (which specializes in offering innovative summer camp programs on university campuses worldwide) have collaborated to launch the new, three-week program. It's geared to high school student interested in learning more about where their food comes from and its impact on the environment. Students will learn how to prepare healthy and delicious meals, and the important role food preparation plays in developing community.

Bon Appétit at Penn and Summer Discovery have created a full summer experience that goes beyond just learning how to cook. In addition to the nitty-gritty food safety, cooking, and baking skills behind food production, students will have the opportunity to meet new people, explore a new city, and learn more about sustainable food and farming. Participants live in residence halls and share evening and weekend activities with other Penn summer programs.

Musings on community, art, and low carbon food

By Vera Chang, West Coast Fellow for Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation

An art project in Cornish Cafe by a sculpture student

Written in honor of a creating a more peaceful world through eating alongside one another and low carbon choices  

When you combine an arts school and a socially responsible food services company, the results can be interesting. Last Thursday, on April 14, Bon Appétit Management Company celebrated its fourth Low Carbon Diet Day, and Cornish College of the Arts transformed this annual event into an occasion in which eating was revered as art, and art added another dimension to sustainable dining.

Bon Appétit at U Maryland Celebrates 4th Annual Low Carbon Diet Day

By Carolina Fojo, East Coast Fellow, Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation

Tonneta Outland, Bon Appétit cook at UMD, prepared the pizzas for Low Carbon Diet Day.

Yesterday Bon Appétit Management Company held its fourth annual Low Carbon Diet Day across the country. To celebrate, the kitchen team at the University of Maryland in Baltimore tempted their guests’ palates toward climate-friendlier pastures by reinventing the cheap/quick/greasy go-to of most college students: the pizza.

So how do you make a pizza low carbon? Well, first and foremost, hold that cheese! Many people don’t know this, but livestock is actually responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The vast majority of this contribution comes from ruminant animals that emit methane  — a greenhouse gas that's 23-25% more damaging than CO2 — when they burp, and when they fart. And cows do both, a lot. (It ain’t pretty, but it’s true.) So by eliminating the cheese from a traditional pizza, that pizza’s contribution to climate change is significantly diminished.

A Little Competition, Cinnamon, and Hollandaise: Lesley U Tackles the Food Challenge

By Carolina Fojo, East Coast Fellow, Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation

 

“I love a good competition!”

With these words, Cristin Ashmankas entered herself into a Bon Appétit Sustainable Cooking Challenge at Lesley University, where she is an assistant professor in the earth science, natural sciences, and mathematics department. Cristin grew up in a family of great cooks and says she is known among her friends (her “test subjects”) for her culinary experiments and what has become known as “Cristin’s secret ingredient.”

The day of the event, Cristin arrived wearing a cupcake-dappled apron and a big grin.

Her competitor was Diego Mejia, a Bon Appétit cook at Lesley University. Born in México, Diego spent most of his childhood eating his mother’s savory dishes of tortillas and beans, tomatillo and mole sauces. After arriving in the U.S., he started working for Bon Appétit as a dishwasher, and has steadily moved his way up the ladder to becoming a full-fledged cook. This was his second time representing Bon Appétit in a cooking competition.

As with every Bon Appétit Sustainable Cooking Challenge, the student audience chooses the contestants' ingredients from a list of locally grown, planet-friendly items. The two Lesley contenders were challenged  to work with apples, potatoes, rosemary, spring onions, eggs, and chicken. (The students really liked their protein!)

As the clock ticked over to 5:30pm, the contestants got to work. They had a mere 30 minutes to design and create a meal using the selected ingredients. When the half hour was up, both contestants put their knives down, and three student judges had to decide between Ashmankas’ apple-chicken salad drizzled in a cinnamon vinaigrette and Mejia’s chicken steeped in Hollandaise. And the winner was… drumroll, please…Bon Appétit cook Diego Mejia!

“I got beat out by Hollandaise!” lamented Cristin. Her apple-chicken salad was still quite delicious — I loved the use of her “secret ingredient”, cinnamon! — and given Cristin's healthy sense of competition, this blogger would give her good odds for the likely rematch next year.

See photos from the competition here!