NACUFS Summer Internship - Yale Edition

Week 1

Day 1

The Commons Dining Hall

Hi all. My name is Jordan and I am an Applied Human Nutrition student from the University of Guelph. I am excited to be completing my NACUFS Food Service Management internship at Yale University! I am a first time blogger so we’ll see how this goes...  

One of the entrances to Yale's beautiful campus

Monday was the first day of my internship. I spent the morning in the Dining Services office where myself and my fellow intern, Andrew, met a number of the staff. They were all very friendly and welcoming. The location of our work area for the summer hasn’t been finalized yet so we sat at a desk in the kitchen... there was a lot of food there to tempt us so the staff joked that we had the best seats in the house. They weren’t wrong! I think I spent most of the morning saying how I was still pinching myself because this whole experience still feels like a dream.

Andrew in our "office"

After lunch we travelled to Boston with our supervisor Veronica. We visited Feneuil Hall where we saw a number of different shops. Then we walked along the waterfront of Boston Harbor on our way to dinner at Blue Dragon, owned by chef Ming Tsai. Blue Dragon is an Asian gastropub which serves its food tapas style.  Everything was delicious! I don’t think we could have asked for a better first day and I will definitely be visiting Boston again (at least once)!

Day 2

On our second day we attended the Culinary Intelligence Summit in Boston. The main topic addressed at the summit was gluten and strategies to ensure gluten-free food service. There were many passionate presenters and we learned a lot about the importance of training food service staff and preventing  cross-contamination when it comes to successfully serving gluten-free foods.

Andrew, myself, and Veronica before the Culinary Intelligence Summit

We were also lucky enough to try a number of different gluten-free desserts, including brownies, muffins, and cookies over the course of the day (though, as a nutrition student, I probably shouldn’t be mentioning this...).

Day 3

Wednesday was our first full day in New Haven. Andrew and I were introduced to the Eatec software that we will be using this summer. Part of our job will be to go through the existing recipes and analyse the ingredients from each recipe to see if it contains gluten – a great way to put some of the information from the Summit into practice. During the afternoon Andrew and I conducted some more research to better understand the intricacies and importance of gluten-free food service. There are so many things to consider, including not only ingredients in the food, but also cross-contamination among other details.

Day 4

Today started out a little differently than other days. We were fortunate enough to join staff from the Dining Services central office in a morning of team building. I found this to be interesting for a number of reasons. First, I was able to see how the staff interact with each other. I am very impressed with the teamwork, trust, and strong communication that I witnessed. Next, it was beneficial for understanding the dynamics of a team in a “real life” setting. Finally, the meeting was helpful for allowing me to understanding some of the department’s goals as a whole as well as the role each individual plays on the Dining Services team. After the seminar we went out to a local restaurant called Union League Cafe. I thought everything was delicious. How great does this dessert look!?...

Day 5

On Friday of week 1 Andrew and I were able to see some of the kitchens on campus. We helped Christine Centola, the Culinary Resource Center Production Manager, take measurements of different foods that were being prepared. The goal is to standardize the amount of each item that could fit in specific containers. Yale currently has 13 dining halls and food prep is done individually at each. However, they are in the process of opening a centralized location where some of the food prep can be done for every dining hall before being shipped to each facility in a designated container (or at least that is how I understand it... more to come on this I hope!). Christine then took us to The Commons’ kitchen where we toured through the Yale Catering’s and Yale Bakery’s facilities. We may also have taken a taste of bacon popcorn while down there... SO GOOD!

Later in the day we met Cathy van Dyke and Bob Sullivan, the Directors of Residential Dining. This was a very informative meeting. Yale’s dining operation is massive; coordinating and executing meals in 13 dining halls is no easy feat. Cathy and Bob provided me with a better understanding of the different dining facilities on the Yale campus. Yale distributes its freshman class between its 12 Residential Colleges. Each college contains proportional amounts of students from each major so that the students of each individual college represent Yale as a whole. Students generally live in their college for three or four years while attending Yale. The most unique part of the Yale dining experience for students is that they generally eat at their respective Residential College's dining hall where they can bond with students from the same college as well as the college's master and their family. This gives an overall sense of community and family within each Residential College. 

In addition, during the meeting, I gained some insight into different initiatives and expectations of Yale Dining. I was especially impressed to hear that Yale receives high praise for its restaurant-quality food. The food in the dining halls is honestly very tasty and you can't beat the variety!

The Weekend

On Saturday I ventured to East Rock Park. I climbed up the “Giant Steps Trail”, which is aptly named, and it was well worth it. The view from the top was incredible. I could see the whole of New Haven from up there. I will need to bring my phone up there soon so I can take pictures!

On Sunday I was back in Boston to see the Red Sox play at Fenway Park. My day consisted of over 7 hours on the bus and 2 hours of walking but it was completely worth it! Fenway Park is amazing. It is full of history and loyal fans. The Sox ended up losing in extra innings but it was a great game. I will have to make my way back soon.

Week 1 at Yale flew by! I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting the staff at Yale, both in the central office and in the dining halls; they’ve all been so friendly and helpful. Andrew and I have a full schedule this coming week including a number of meetings, two days of Culinary Insight Training, a day at the Farmer’s Market, and even a taste testing! I’m looking forward to this coming week and I will share it all when I have a minute or two. Until next time...