A Recipe for Success
Moving into our permanent home after two years in a temporary kitchen and dining space required immense preparation, planning, and hard work. It has been rewarding to see the new servery and Alumni Community Hall come to life and realize the impact our work has on the student experience. What we do goes beyond providing meals; we are helping create a sense of belonging and community.
What’s most exciting for our team, and probably the boys as well, is that we’ve been able to expand our lunch menu. Transitioning into our new servery has meant more hot entrées from the Trattoria, Crossroads, and Freestyle stations, with pizza every Friday thanks to our fantastic new pizza oven. The other day, our offerings included cod filets, vegetarian “chicken” cutlets, sauteed vegetables, barbecue pork and rice with steamed vegetables, and Italian sausage with roasted peppers, along with our full salad and sandwich bars. Soon, we will begin offering house-made soups as well.
There are also less visible improvements that aren’t so exciting for students, but are very important for our team.
Like any transition, there have been new processes to understand, challenges to work through, and routines to establish. For example, the more integrated kitchen layout required us to rethink how we separate food preparation stations, particularly when it comes to allergen awareness. We established clear boundaries around where certain foods can be stored and prepared, supported by ongoing communication and education among staff to prevent cross-contamination. I’m proud of how the team has embraced the changes while staying focused on serving our students.
The new space has created opportunities for us to improve our workflow and collaborate more. Its circular layout allows our team to move more freely between stations, but it has also required us to think carefully about how we share space. Our Trattoria and Improv stations now operate in close proximity, even though one handles hot food and the other cold. We've had to establish new ways of working alongside one another without getting in each other's way.
Moving into a new space and establishing a successful meal service has taken a tremendous amount of coordination, patience, and teamwork. Everyone has played a part, and I’m proud of our collective commitment to work through challenges and deliver a high-quality service our students can rely on.
