Bon Appétit

We've Moved!

Hello, readers of the Bon Appétit Management Company blog!

We have copied our posts from this Typepad blog and over to a spiffy new WordPress one at our company website, which is where we'll be sharing future posts and videos.

We've got big plans for adding lots more news and fun features to our menu. We're in the process of trying to transfer the email notification list as well, but until then, please update your bookmarks to http://www.bamco.com/blog/. This blog will be live  just a few more months.

Hydrate the Healthy Way With Fresh Flavored Water

By Kristen Rasmussen, MS, RD, dietitian consultant, and Terri Brownlee, MPH, RD, LDN, Bon Appétit Regional Director of Nutrition

Every month, Bon Appétit Management Company's Food for Your Well Being program offers information about a particular dietary change that our customers could make to improve their health. July's Hydrate the Healthy Way campaign focuses on avoiding beverages with added sugar or other sweeteners. (Read more about it on our Facebook page.) We hope you'll try out one of the recipes we'll be posting this month for delicious drinks that will quench your thirst without expanding your waistline.

Mint, Citrus, and Fruit-Spiked Water

Still or sparkling water
Fresh mint leaves, crushed
Sliced oranges, lemons, or other citrus fruit
Sliced strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries 
Ice (optional) 

Stir fruit and/or herbs of choice into still or sparkling water to taste and add ice if desired. Let flavors “marinate” for 10 minutes. Enjoy your refreshing, thirst-quenching, low-calorie beverage!

First Harvest from Gallaudet Community Garden

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

Left to right: Gallaudet gardeners Carolina Fojo, Marcy Knox, Nicholas Palazzo III, Ryne Worsham, Davina Kwong, Jon Terpak

Eight months ago the Gallaudet Community Garden was nothing but an abandoned volleyball court filled with sand. Today, thanks to the efforts of students and Bon Appétit — with the help of the football team — it’s a thriving garden of fourteen 20-foot-long beds that just saw its first-ever harvest!

“It was an exciting day for everybody,” reports Davina Kwong, Bon Appétit General Manager at Gallaudet University, who helped spearhead the garden's creation. "Employees from the café came out to help with the harvest, pick the fresh vegetables, and dream up ways to show them off in the café the next day." 

Right: Bon Appétit café employee Tanisha Bryant picks beets from the garden.

Golden wax garden beans, cucumbers, and beautiful yellow, orange, and red beets were all plucked from the ground or the vine that day. On the horizon, we’re looking forward to some summer squash and Sweet Siberian watermelon.

The big harvest day would not have been possible without the work of the two summer interns, Ryne Worsham (’12) and Jon Terpak (’12). They’ve been jointly working the garden this summer—watering, weeding, planting, and meeting regularly with Bon Appétit staff to develop ideas for how to improve the garden. Right now they're in the process of implementing one of those ideas: a cosmetic overhaul using landscaping fabric, wood chips, and stepping stones.

Everyone is excited for all the many more harvests in the Gallaudet Community Garden's future!

Find (and Like) the Garden on Facebook here.

Celebrating Summer - and Sustainable Food - with CUESA and a Bon Appétit chef

By Liz Sullivan, Program Assistant, Bon Appétit Management Company 

On Sunday, July 10, join the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA) and dozens of Bay Area chefs and food luminaries, including Bon Appétit's Oracle - Redwood Shores Executive Chef, Robbie Lewis, for cooking demonstrations and seasonal tastes at the first Summer Celebration. The event will be held in the beautiful,  historic San Francisco Ferry Building from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., with more than 60 local chefs, businesses, and sustainable farmers providing tasty treats and drinks for guests to enjoy to raise money for CUESA. 

Bay Area locals might only know CUESA as the hosts of the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmer’s Market. In truth, CUESA provides much more as part of its educational mission, including free cooking demonstrations, low-cost kitchen skill-building classes, the new Schoolyard to Market program, and scholarships that help sustainable farmers become leaders in their field. All funds raised from the event will go to support these programs.

Hydrate the Healthy Way with Any Melon Agua Fresca

By Kristen Rasmussen, MS, RD, dietitian consultant, and Terri Brownlee, MPH, RD, LDN, Bon Appétit Regional Director of Nutrition

Every month, Bon Appétit Management Company's Food for Your Well Being program offers information about a particular dietary change that our customers could make to improve their health. July's Hydrate the Healthy Way campaign focuses on avoiding beverages with added sugar or other sweeteners. (Read more about it on our Facebook page.) We hope you'll try out one of the recipes we'll be posting this month for delicious drinks that will quench your thirst without expanding your waistline.

Any Melon Agua Fresca

Servings: 4-6 

2 3/4 cups melon chunks (watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, etc.)
2 cups water
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
1 tablespoon honey or agave nectar
Mint sprigs for garnish (optional)

Place melon in a blender and puree until smooth. Strain through a sieve and discard pulp.

Pour into a pitcher and stir in water, lime juice, and sugar. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Melon agua fresca may be served over iced and garnished with mint, if desired.