NACUFS Summer Internship - Yale Edition!

Week 6

Day25 (Monday)

Our week started off with a meeting with Adam Millman, Director of Auxillary Operations. Adam oversees multiple retail outlets on the Yale Campus, as well as Yale Catering and the Hall of Graduate Studies (HGS). HGS is one of the only facilities we haven't seen yet but, during the school year, it is where graduate students can purchase an all-you-care-to-eat meal, similar to the residential dining halls.

Adam’s current focus is in the School of Management (SOM). SOM’s café opened the Monday previous to our meeting and there is also a restaurant in the building that is currently receiving its final operational touches. The cooks at SOM will be testing recipes in the next couple weeks.

Today was our first opportunity to really sit down and work on the nutrition information project. Essentially, Veronica gave us a list of all items in Yale's Eatec database which do not have associated nutritional information. Our job is to find the information either on the distributor’s website, the manufacturer’s website, or on the product's label in one of the residential units. Hopefully this list won’t take too long to get through.

Day 26

This morning we met with Lisa Kimmel, a Registered Dietitian who currently works with employee health in Yale’s Health Center (lovingly nicknamed “The Beetlejuice Building” by Veronica).  Lisa came to Yale as a Sports Nutritionist, which is really cool. Our meeting

The "Beetlejuice" Building

was a great opportunity to talk about student nutrition on the college campus.

Lisa showed us a number of projects she’s worked on in the past as well as some of the projects currently undertaken by Yale faculty. She showed us all of this on her really cool, ergonomic, adjustable work station. It’s essentially only a computer stand which can adjust in height so the user can stand or sit throughout the day but, as a former kinesiology major, I thought it was particularly interesting.

Lisa Kimmel and her awesome
standing work station!

In the afternoon we had our third meeting for the Uncommon Market. Our main issue is the time it takes to check out each guest which, in turn, causes a lot of congestion and frustration in the market area. We brainstormed some new strategies to help speed up check out times. Fingers crossed everything will go more smoothly this week!

Day 27

Wednesday was spent in the office. Andrew and I were given more recipes and asked to manually enter all ingredients by name and weight into the spreadsheet, similar to a project we were assigned earlier in the internship.

Day 28

This morning we checked out Silliman residential college. This college is home to one of my favourite dining halls. Above the tables are three massive, sparkling chandeliers which are beautiful. The purpose of the trip was to test out Veronica's proposed setup of their salad bar. Veronica had been working on some different layouts over the past week or so and today, along with Betty, she tried out some of her options. Who knew how much effort it takes to set up a salad bar!?

After our short introduction to Silliman, Andrew and I walked over to Commons for a meeting with James Filtz, Director of Catering Operations. James manages Yale Catering, a very busy catering department which is in charge of both on and off campus events. Busy isn’t an exaggeration, as catering operates 50 weeks of the year.

Commons Dining Hall, from outside James' office

One of the most interesting parts of our meeting was the discussion the road one takes to building a career. James came to Yale after working in Las Vegas. A common theme among conversations with managers at Yale has been the advice that I be open to opportunities. James told us he didn’t really think about Las Vegas as a place he would like to settle down with a family but it was a great career move that he made for a few years. He advised Andrew and I to remain open to exciting opportunities and take them while we’re still young; before we settle down and have more personal responsibilities.

Day 29 

Friday of Week 6 started off in a very exciting manner. Veronica took Andrew and me to one of the dining halls to watch a 2^nd cook’s test. Here is how the test works. The candidate meets with a panel,

2nd Cook's Test - Cream of Cauliflower Soup

which included Chef Ron, on the day prior to the test. The candidate is given copies of the two menus which they will be asked to prepare, given time to get organized and make a game plan, and then given two hours to complete prep work. They return to the kitchen at 7am the next morning and begin to prepare the menus. During the cook’s test, a proctor stands in the kitchen and makes notes on the candidate’s process. They watch for organization, cleanliness, sanitation, creativity, and cooking technique. The meals, which need to be prepared and plated by a designated time, are then served to the panel of judges who are blind to the entire cooking process. The panel then marks the candidate using a standard marking sheet. The candidate must score at least 80% to pass the test.

The individual being tested had a strong culinary background and competes in culinary competitions with other cooks on the Yale staff. His skill is undeniable. He was very composed throughout the test and his food (at least the soup we were able to try) was delicious. I'm very glad we had the opportunity to sit in on part of the test.

Uncommon Market meeting #3

The afternoon marked our third crack at the Uncommon Market. We were well staffed and came with our game faces on. Matt created a list for each of us which included every product for sale as well as its associated price. My role, when the line backed up, was to check customers’ bags and write up a total for them. The customer would then take the slip of paper with their total written on it to the cashier and the cashier could process their transaction much more quickly. Because of this strategy, we are unable to track the exact quantities being sold but we are better able to satisfy our customers. It was a pretty successful day as that day was greater than any previous Uncommon Market. A much deserved kudos should be sent out to the team for that one, as well as a thank you to both the Yale and New Haven communities for their support!

Day 30 (Monday)

Today, we took a field trip to Widdy’s restaurant. This is the main Yale Dining retail outlet at Yale’s golf course. Our day really started when one of the managers, Brian, took Andrew and I on a tour of the golf course in a golf cart. The golf course is beautiful. Brian told us it is not the kind of course where you learn to golf; it isn’t a very forgiving course. We

The 9th Tee

visited The 9^th Tee, a small snack shop in the middle of the course on our tour. Outside of The 9^th Tee was the 9^th tee, the starting point of a short par 3. Apparently, this is the prize hole in most tournaments. The make and model is different each time, but many tournaments offer a free car to the golfer who can record a hole-in-one on this hole!

Will's Bruschetta

Our main task for our day at the golf course was to help standardize the recipes on Widdy's menu. This will help with both costing as well as inventory. So Will and Zephenia, who were working in the kitchen, suited Andrew and I up in a chef’s coat, apron, and chef hat and worked with us for the afternoon. They plated some of the menu items for us, being careful to report the weight of each ingredient, as Andrew and I made notes and took pictures… oh, and taste tested for quality (that’s the story I’m going with anyway!).

I enjoyed speaking with both Will and Zephenia during the day. Will has attended culinary school and worked in the restaurant industry for many years. His philosophy is that it is important for individuals to work their way up from the bottom of the work hierarchy. In this way, you are better able to perfect your craft and carry unique skills with you. He stressed the importance of always working hard and being a positive team player. I have to agree with much of what Will told us.

Andrew and I working
hard in the kitchen at Widdy's

Day 31

This afternoon we had a potluck lunch with all of the staff in the central dining office. With so many foodies in one place, of course it was a competition. And, since Rafi is the boss, he won (his jasmine rice was actually fantastic, but don’t tell him I said that. I tried to stay impartial…).

Rafi's Pre-Potluck Food Evaluations

Everything was actually fantastic. There wasn’t enough room on my
plate to try a taste of every dish with only one trip to the buffet line. Aside from talking food, the potluck was a good opportunity to talk with some of the managers and directors from the dining office. I asked Mike about his experience with the hiring process from a manager's standpoint, looking for any advice regarding resumes and the entire application process. He agreed to take a look at my resume and give me some tips.

Later in the day we attended a meeting about the improved salad bars. The meeting was led by Veronica and it was an excellent presentation. All of the directors in attendance were very impressed. She broke down the projected quantities of individual salad components, as well as of composed salads, which each college goes through in one day. She used this data, as well as the dimensions of the serveries, to design the layout for each college and choose the appropriate size of serveware. I’m glad Veronica had the opportunity to show off all of her hard work and receive the kudos she deserves. I'm sure she'll be glad to finalize these designs.

Day 32

Thursday was a pretty relaxed day. We continued working on our nutritionals project. To help find some data we went to ESM as Marie said she had a resource for us which might help. We ended up talking with Marie about dietetics a bit. It’s always great to gain insight from Marie. She tells it as it is. She also has a lot of experience and, being an RD, she was able to give us some information to consider. From her past, she does not appear to a fan of the clinical aspect of food; she loves what she gets to do at Yale.

Suppliers came to the office later in the morning to talk about ordering the serveware for the salad bars. Veronica was able to show off her presentation again, in brief, and the suppliers were also very impressed. They say they usually have much less information to go on when they are asked to provide an estimate so they were happy with what Veronica was able to provide. I would never have imagined, going into this foodservice experience, how much effort goes into one seemingly small aspect of a foodservice operation – the salad bar. I think I say the same thing after every meeting about the salad bar...

Day 33

This morning Andrew and I met Veronica at 7:45 and we walked over to SOM where some of the cooks were testing recipes in the brand new kitchen. Andrew and I were asked to make notes about

New and Improved - Roasted Sweet Potato and Corn Salad

methods and cooking techniques as well as to record accurate weights so they could be entered into the standardized recipes.

The day started off slowly as the chefs organized themselves so Dave, one of the culinary managers, asked us to create a standard inventory checklist for the display cases in SOM’s new café. The goal is to make it easier to restock at the end of the night. Taking inventory is usually a pretty tedious task but I didn’t mind. The two guys working in the café, Nick and Kenny, were chatty, and pretty funny, so time went by really quickly. It was a good opportunity for me to talk about sports, something that doesn’t happen often in the office.

After we created the checklist we returned to the kitchen to work with Stu, Cyril (aka Frenchy), and Kenny (aka KB) as they tested and adjusted some salad recipes. The Roasted Sweet Potato and Corn Salad tastes even better than it looks!

"Table 5, Stayin' Alive"
(I was told to say this...)

At 12 Andrew and I walked back to Timothy Dwight residential college where a special catered lunch event was taking place. All of employees within SFAS – Student Financial and Administrative Services - were invited to attend. These just so happened to be all of the people we share an office building with. There is a geographic divide between the different departments so James Filtz and company from Yale Catering decided to have us randomly draw our designated seating arrangement out of a hat. I drew table 5. I was a little intimidated by the concept but it was a great opportunity to break out of my shell and meet some new people, learn about their jobs, and more about the northeastern United States.

SFAS Lunch Set-up in Timothy Dwight's Dining Hall

Following the lunch, Andrew and I spent most of the afternoon in the office trying to make some more headway on our nutritionals project. At the end of the day we went to debrief recipe testing with Veronica.

Day 34

We finished off the week at The Yale Farm, a physical extension of the Yale Sustainability Food Project. It is a one acre plot of land with a number of crops that are sold every Saturday at the Wooster Square farmer’s market in New Haven. The day to day operations of the farm are taken care of by 6 Yale undergraduate interns. The interns put Andrew and me to work as soon as we arrived at the farm. We started by harvesting different types of turnips and potatoes. It was a great opportunity to talk with Yale students and gain their perspective on Yale.

Harvesting Potatoes at the Yale Farm

One of the interns we spoke with is originally from New York City. I was telling her about how creative I thought the city was in its use of space; there isn’t much room to build so people get creative with what is available. She told me that there are many teaching gardens on rooftops in the city because there isn’t much room for growth at street level. I thought this was a fascinating way of teaching innovative agriculture in such an urban setting.

 Weekend

Andrew and I headed back to New York to spend our second last Saturday at Yankee's Stadium. The field is beautiful and I love the immediate surrounding area. There are diamonds outside of Yankee Stadium with some decent sized crowds. On one of the outfield fences there was a motto which read "Sometimes You Win. Sometimes You Lose. Sometimes It Rains." I love it! Baseball is about having fun playing, not the outcome. It's very appropriate for Little League and something that should never be overlooked in sport.

Yankee Stadium

I was kind of disappointed by the lack of energy in the building for the afternoon game. It was a close game throughout but the crowd noise level rarely exceeded that of normal conversation. The game was a great opportunity to see Derek Jeter live. It will probably be the last time I see him before his retirement so I really appreciate the timing of this trip. The Jays pulled out the W in the end so it was the best of both worlds for me.

Until next time...