Share this story. 
|
The Saga of Sodexho
What's happened to the cafeteria?
By Nadia Datskiv, Class of 2004
| |
| |
|
Jazz Salad's not the only new thing coming to the menu. In the fall and the spring, ORU's food outlets will introduce several other new recipes.
A lot of planning goes into those recipes. During the summer, when students have vacated their college campuses, university chefs get together and develop new entrées. Jeff Uebelhart, executive chef for Sodexho at ORU, gets a recipe CD every three months with about 28,000 delicacies. "We are always in the process of developing something original," he says.
Two years ago Sodexho decided to be bold. They bought the national operations and other divisions of campus food service, owned by Marriott--a very original move. One of their many improvements has been the innovation of technology.
Through proper planning, ORU workers are able to serve extra-large crowds, such as the 900 guests in February at the annual President's Homecoming Banquet. Sodexho recently served the campers for the ORU Educational Fellowship and also does catering for all Miss Oklahoma Pageant contestants and their parents. Uebelhart believes, "There is nothing we can't do."
Students would agree that the most popular place to eat on campus is the cafeteria, where chicken-fried steak and chicken patty sandwiches are favorites. During the day, as people jazz to and from classes, the action moves to the LRC where the Smoothie Shop's smoothies and chicken tenders are in demand.
Uebelhart is proud to be a part of the big changes that have taken place during his five years at ORU. "I haven't been to a school yet that has the salad stations we have. Most schools have three meal selections, a sandwich stand, and a small salad bar," he comments.
"Four years ago at ORU we had two entrées with vegetables; now there are at least six sections to choose from." There is the permanent pasta bar, grill station, chef's cutting board for salads, wraps and sushi, full-time deli, home cookery, and full-time desserts with three to four items at any given time, plus the salad bar. This is very extensive compared to other cafeterias. "Most colleges don't compete with our desserts," Uebelhart adds.
"We serve about 22,000 meals per week in the cafeteria. Campus-wide, 30,000 meals are provided per week," Uebelhart says. Production numbers show that at dinnertime, two out of three students choose home cookery, making it the most popular. During lunchtime, the students' favorite is the chef's cutting board, designed for salads and wraps. When sushi appeared for the first time on the menu this semester, 2,400 pieces were consumed the first day.
Alvin Tupas, general manager of Food Services at ORU for four years, enjoys the jazzy environment in the cafeteria. "This is the only cafeteria where students have assigned seats. So much excitement goes on!"
Tupas, who has been on campus for nine years, focuses on the students. "They need to know we're here for them, to listen to comments and feedback," he says, adding that he regularly eats at different units on campus "to make sure the quality is here." His favorite meals are the Deli's turkey croissant sandwich and the Smoothie Shop's orange-based smoothies, pretzels, and chicken tenders.
Since students are more educated about food these days, Tupas is slow to speak and quick to hear. "In every cafeteria people ask for healthier items, and it's up to us as providers to really listen. One way we do that is through the 'sweet and sour board' where students are allowed to write comments down," Tupas says. His operations director, Mike Neal, responds to every card.
Most campuses have a three-week-cycle system, but here the popular entrées are served every week. Tupas has worked hard to customize the preferences of the students and eventually plans to have a restaurant type of production. His success and continual improvement comes due to the "good staff. They are key because they are on the front line."
All Sodexho workers go through training. Cooks train hands-on or formally twice a week, during chapel hour.
"All products that we serve are guaranteed to ensure product quality and safety," says Uebelhart, who stresses the importance of food safety. There is potential for bacterial growth when food is between 40 and 140 degrees. For this reason, "Everything here needs to be temperature-checked, and cooked to a specific temperature. Hot and cold foods are checked at least three times for every meal period." Each station is cleaned with fresh sanitizers.
All food used to be produced in the kitchen. Now it's made at different stations and is fresher. Just to prove how fresh it really is--when an outside firm came in to do a surprise inspection of ORU kitchen property, they gave scores of 100 percent for safety and 99.5 percent for temperatures.
If the question is, "What's cooking at ORU?" Tupas and Uebelhart will tell you that the answer is, "Something new every year."
