UC Berkeley, Week #7 with Cal Catering!

Over the weekend, Maria (Renee's student assistant) invited Ashley and I to an exercise class called The Bar Method. It is a new type of workout, combining yoga, pilates, and ballet. It was made up of series of short, controlled movements, that engaged various muscles and repeated the action until my muscles were shaking. Some of the moves brought me back to my gymnastics days, such as the "hollow hold" and "V-ups". A lot of the work was done "on the bar" like a ballerina. Although it was very challenge, I enjoyed the class and thought it was a great variation to my normal workout routine.

We had another visitor from Connecticut stay with us the past few days. Her name is Alex. She and Ashley know each other from a community college back home. Alex recently graduated with her degree in english, and is an excellent writer. You can check out her blog here. Alex is on a cross-country road trip, from CT to Washington, Oregon, Cali and everywhere in between. She has an adventurous spirit and inspires me to think outside of what society tells me is acceptable, and really follow my heart. Her travels have given her many experiences that I have been able to hear bits and pieces of. Within the next month she will begin working with WWOOF: Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms. She is planning to work at 2 different farms in the next few months, one in San Juan at a yoga sanctuary and the other near San Diego called Valley Sanctuary.

Alex, Ashley and Kristen in San Fransisco

The work week, so far, has been spent in the Catering department of Cal Dining. We spent our time learning about catering operations, making deliveries, assembling food items, and attending meetings. We were able to spend one day with Doug, who showed us around Berkeley's campus and took us through some of the buildings on campus. Since we don't spend much time in most of these buildings, it was a great opportunity for us to get more of a student's perspective of UC Berkeley. My favorite building was the Life Sciences building, where we got to see an actual 3D skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was huge! We also got to spend time with two Cal Catering managers: Tete and Natalie. Tete explained to us about her role in the catering process, which includes processing orders, placing orders with vendors, and filling in wherever help is needed. The catering services are very busy in the summer time, and over 90% of their customers are located on campus. On Wednesday, we worked with Natalie in the catering office. We worked a catered dinner event for the football coaches and staff in the stadium too. It was exciting to be a part of the presentation, service and overall experience of putting on a catered event. 

Besides our busy schedule with Catering, we have finalized our event poster, printed them out in various sizes, and posted them all over campus! I am getting excited (and a little nervous) for our big dinner event. I know, though, that with the help of the wonderful Cal Dining staff, it will be a success, so I am really looking forward to it.

Week 6 at UC Berkeley!

This past week has been jam packed with activities! Kristen and I traveled to Santa Cruz with a couple friends and spent the day at the beach. We dove right in the water, despite the cold temperature. We also drove around the UC Santa Cruz campus, which was completely different than UC Berkeley. The campus was secluded from the city, hidden by the acres of trees and land. We spent the weekend relaxing in the sunshine and preparing for the work week ahead of us!

Kristen and I with some friends in Santa Cruz!

We worked in Clark Kerr and Crossroads, which are two dining facilities on campus. Clark Kerr we completed 2 months of organic audits! Organic audits are very time consuming, so most of our time was spent reviewing them. We also attended a meeting among the General Managers about labor costs. We had the opportunity to see the different ideas each General Manager had, and how they were going to implement them throughout the dining facilities.

Kristen and I worked in Crossroads for two days, which is the largest dining facility on campus. We shadowed, worked in the dish room and served on the line, and attended a meeting with the office staff. Prior to this internship I did not work in a dining facility at a University, so this experience has been eyeopening! We have worked in all four dining halls and had the privilege of meeting countless employees who show a passion for their job.

Kristen and I at the SF Giants game!

Wednesday night Kristen and I traveled into the city to watch a San Francisco Giants baseball game. This was Kristen's first time attending a major league baseball game, and we had a blast! Despite the Giants loss, the weather was wonderful and we had a great time. We also had the opportunity to attend the Gilroy Garlic Festival to watch chef Mary and Ida compete in a cooking competition called the Garlic Bowl. They competed against Fresno State and San Jose State. Each team had 1 hour to create 2 dishes using a minimum of 6 cloves of garlic. Ida and Mary created two original dishes: the first was a summer vegetable hash with halibut topped with a garlic aioli. For dessert, garlic infused creme puffs and almond brittle. The judges gave Ida and Mary the highest single scoring dish. The reviews were phenomenal, and they commented the food was "restaurant quality." Aside from the Garlic Bowl, we ate delicious fried calamari and garlic fries! 


We have been busy planning our event which is only a week and a half away! The past six weeks have been a wonderful experience, and cannot wait for our event!

Kristen, Renee, and I at the Garlic Festival.

Mary and Ida preparing their dish for the Garlic Bowl

Me and Kristen at the Gilroy Garlic fesitval

The poster we designed for our dinner event

Berkeley Week #5!

Ashley, Amanda & Kristen working in the Bakery!

This week Ashley and I were privileged enough to spend some time working in the Honey Bear Bakery, with Executive Chef Bob, and Chef Amanda. This bakery is located in Crossroads dining hall, but prepares baked goods for all 4 dining halls. I had never worked in a bakery before, but found it to be extremely fun! We worked mostly with Amanda, who showed us some baking techniques, taught us about large scale bakery production, and even let us take home one of the pies we made. We had such a great time working together. Some things we made include: s'mores cake, pecan pies, frosting, cake, vegan brownies, cobbler dough, sunflower cake, chocolate ganache, scones, pastries, and banana chocolate chip muffins.

Ashley, Chef Mary, Kristen, GM Frank

Another place we worked this week was Cafe 3, one of the four dining halls on campus. Here, we worked with Executive Chef Mary, and General Manager, Frank. During our time here, we got to experience a little bit of everything! We prepped 300 baked potatoes for dinner, learned about budgeting & numbers, evaluated inventory to place an order with BiRite, and even got to write a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) document for use by the dining hall regarding their service records.
On Thursday, Renee (Registered Dietitian for Cal Dining) brought Ashley, Maria and I on a little field trip. We visited the Berkeley Farmer's Market where I was able to talk with some local farmers about their products. I sampled things like vegetarian quinoa sushi, low pasteurized milk from jersey cows, and the largest variety of peaches I have ever seen! We stopped at a nearby cookie shop to buy some of Renee's favorite cookies: Macaroons. They were very tasty, and gluten free! Lastly, we made a stop at the Berkeley Bowl, which is an independent, specialty grocery store where you can find a large variety of foods. At this stop, I founds something I have been looking for all over California: Raw Milk. Raw milk is illegal to sell in Michigan, but not in California! They had both raw goat milk and raw cow milk. I chose the cow's milk, and have been enjoying its freshness in my morning coffee.
Friday it was back to work at The Den, which is a retail location connected to Crossroads dining hall. This was the first day that Ashley & I have been split up since starting the internship. While Ashley worked as a barista making coffee drinks, I improved my sandwich and smoothie-making skills. It's been another great week of learning, fun, and new experiences here in Berkeley!

Double Salmon Sushi Roll at a Japanese Restaurant

Halfway mark at UC Berkeley!

Celebrating the Fourth of July!

Our time at UC Berkeley thus far has been outstanding! July 4th we hiked to strawberry canyon to lay by the poolside and enjoy the California sunshine. Our night continued when our friend from Berkeley drove Kristen and I to the Berkeley hills to watch the fireworks from three different cities: Berkeley, San Francisco, and Sausalito. The view was spectacular, although the weather in Berkeley is colder than what I am used to in Connecticut!

Crossroads dining hall July 4th decorations!

 The next day Brian, the general manager at Foothills planned a field trip with us to visit St. Vincent de Paul in Oakland. St. Vincent de Paul is a community center which helps with food assistance, job training, and also has a thrift store located within the building. Melanie D, the Giving and Events manager at St. Vincent de Paul provided Brian, Kristen and I a tour of the facility. We had the opportunity to meet several employees and learned how they are trying to help the community. They offer two work force training programs, Champion Workforce and Kitchen of Champions. The programs were designed to help individuals who are re-entering the workforce. We toured the kitchen and watched the Kitchen of Champions group prepare meal for the individuals! I enjoyed the tour at St. Vincent de Paul, and one day would enjoy working with an organization similar to this!

Kristen, me, and Elise at the county fair!

Saturday we traveled to Pleasanton to attend the Alameda County Fair. Kristen and I as well as the Crossroads marketing team explored the county fair to brainstorm ideas for our dinner event. We had the opportunity to watch a motocross show and a horse race, while eating deep fried Oreo's and nacho cheese fries! The fair provided an opportunity for Kristen and I to consider a variety of decorations for our dinner event.

Horse race at the county fair.

Kristen and the marketing team at the horse race.

At the beginning of the week we had the opportunity to work first hand in the two of the retail locations on campus. Monday, Kristen and I worked in Pat Browns, where we served customers burritos, sandwiches, and entrees. Tuesday we worked in Golden Bear Cafe, serving breakfast and lunch to numerous customers. 

On Wednesday we worked with Sean M, who works with Cal catering and is the General Manager of the training table and Early Childhood Education Program. Training table is for the football, volleyball, and womens/mens basketball teams. During the preseason training table provides three meals a day for the athletes, and at least one meal a day during regular season. He showed us the different stadium kitchen facilities, the process of placing an order, and USDA food regulations for the Early Childhood Education Program. We enjoyed spending time with Sean and learning about what his job entails!

Elise and I enjoying the fair!

Week #3 at UC Berkeley!

Since our last post, Ashley and I have embarked on countless adventures, new experiences and learning opportunities! It all started last week Friday when Renee Simpson (Registered Dietitian for Cal Dining) took us on a field trip Napa Valley, California for a tour of Napa State Hospital and The Culinary Institute of America! The hospital is where Renee completed her 10-month dietetic internship. Here, we were able to take a tour around the foodservice facilities and learn about how they produce food for 1200+ patients each day.

Steam Jacketed Kettles at Napa State Hospital

The foodservice production kitchen is the largest I have ever seen! They operate via cook-chill system and production only occurs 4 days per week. There are 10 satellite kitchens on campus, where the food is transported and rethermalized before it is served. In the past 150 year, there has never been a case of foodborne illness at this facility, which is amazing! They actually keep a sample pan of each dish they make, to store for 72 hours after the time of service, just in case there were to be an food-related problem, the food could then be tested for pathogens.

Sean, Renee, Kristen, Ashley and Maria taste testing pumpkin pies

The Culinary Institute is located in St. Helena, CA, which is just a short ride from Napa Valley. Here, we were given a tour by a woman named Mariane, who was very knowledgeable about the entire facility and was actually good friends with Chef Marcos, one of the executive chefs at Cal Dining. During our tour, we saw a few of the students working on their projects. They invited us into the kitchen for a taste test! One student was testing 4 different pumpkin pie recipes. I liked the control the best, although, the vegan version was a close second! There are only 300 students at this school, and I got to see a few of their classrooms, kitchens, and lecture halls (which included a demonstration kitchen at the front!).

The Culinary Institute of America

Earlier in the week, Ashley and I tried our hand at some designing work with Patrice. Our goal was to create a series of posters and fliers for our special dinner event. Neither Ashley nor I have much experince in graphic design, so it was challenging for us, but with the help of some awesome staff, we came up with a design that we are all happy with. We also attended a few marketing meetings with Patrice, and discussed recycling & waste management signage, and its role in the stadium, specifically during football games. One of Cal's marketing strategies for this year is to promote sustainability at the stadium.
We also met with the Associate Director of Dining and Administration, Mike Laux, who got his degree in Foodservice Management from the University of Minnesota, and has been working at Cal Dining for over 20 years. His job includes everything from the labor component of each dining facility  & retail location, to being a liaison with Human Resources. He deals with grievances, discipline, medical leaves, policies, and conflict mediation. He is also involved in a lot of the sustainability initiatives like Chews to Reuse. Ashley and I learned about the use of unions within the dining employment and also a little bit more about NACUFS and how it benefits universities.

One of the photographs I took during my photography lesson

Other things we did this week include continuing to provide dietary and employment information to incoming students, exploring the city with Brian (Manager at Foothills Dining Facility), interviewing potential future cooks for Cal Dining, attending a webinar on celiac disease, making it to the top of the clock tower on campus, touring the UC Berkeley Stadium, and taking a photography lesson!

Ashley and I thought that we needed to take advantage of the gorgeous weather this past weekend and spend some time in the sun! We decided to venture to Lake Anza, a man made lake located in the mountains behind Berkeley. The 5 mile hike to the lake was uphill and challenging, but to me, it was worth every step. Upon arrival, we jumped into the water to cool off from our hike. There was a nice beach area, lifeguards, and even a lane to swim laps. We also attended the PRIDE festival in San Fransisco, which was extremely crowded and colorful! We watched the parade and walked around the city for a while before we decided there were too many people us "country" girls.

Monday marked the start of week #3 here in Berkeley California. This week, Ashley and I had the privilege of working with Sean C., Training Manager for Cal Dining. One of Sean's goals at Cal Dining is to develop the company into a preferred employer in the East Bay Area. To do this, he works on enhancing customer service standards, developing new orientation programs for employees, promoting employee appreciation, and making sure the customers are being treated like customers, rather than "students". To help him collect research for the work that he does, Ashley and I got go go "undercover" and do some mystery shopping. We visited a few dining facilities and filled out evaluations about our visit. Things we evaluated them on include  how we were treated there, how knowledgeable the staff was, how clean the facilities were, etc. This "Mystery Shopper" program will actually be introduced campus-wide in the fall. Select students will be able to participate in this experience to evaluate the dining facilities and retail locations. All of this is being done to find ways to improve the service, access and engagement of Cal Dining employees, to work towards continual improvement of the dining facilities on campus.

This week we also were introduced FoodPro, the computer system that stores all of the forecasting, ordering, service records, inventory, invoicing, production, recipes, purchasing, etc., for Cal Dining. At Michigan State, I learned how to use a similar program called CBOARD in my HNF 444 class. Flo is the systems coordinator for Cal Dining, and she is the one who explained a lot of the system to us. Cal Dining is currently working making 2 big changes within their computer systems: implementing electronic invoicing and buying a new software system. Foodpro has been used for the past 20+ years at Cal, but but with so many frustrations, they are now looking to switching systems. The goal is to choose and impliment a new computer software system by the end of August.
Another computer system that Flo works with is Lean Path. It's a system that tracts preconsumer waste. This includes food that doesn't get served, as well as peels, spoilage, trim waste, rhine, and pits. This system has benefited Cal Dining by tracking waste and allowing managers to see where the waste is coming from. It can even pin point specific recipes that have excessive waste , and then those recipes will be removed from production in the dining facilities. Since starting this program at Cal Dining, there has been a 19% decrease in food waste.

On Wednesday we worked with Sunil, the Purchasing Manager for Cal Dining. He took us to tour the BiRite Facility, which is Cal Dining's main food distributor, located in San Fransisco. BiRite is a large company that services much of northern California and even does some business to military troops overseas. They are an independent business that is family owned and only has one location, here in California. Their main competitors are Sysco and US Foods. The amount of food they process every day is crazy! There are 40+ routes that BiRite delivers food 5 days a week. At any given moment, there is around 14 million dollars worth of food in this warehouse. During the tour, we were able to see where food is stored in the 65,000 foot warehouse. There are rooms for dry goods, refrigerated items, and even a freezer room that is 0* F. When I went into the freezer, it reminded me of winter in Michigan.
After the tour, Sunil sat down with us to debrief a little bit and teach us more about what Cal Dining looks for when deciding what products to purchase. When looking for new products, the first thing Sunil looks at is if it contains trans fats, because Cal dining does not sell any food products that contain trans fats. Other considerations include if the product contains plastic or other waste, the quality of the product, the pricing, the vendor's history with past customers, if it is a sustainable product and if it is a local product (<150 miles). All of these things are taken into consideration even before the taste test! Sunil has a student focus group who tests out new products for him. He told us that the customer is the one who has the purchasing power, so it is important to get their opinion on new products. Overall, it has been another awesome week in California. Once again, I learned a lot more about how university foodservice operates and different career paths I can take as a dietitian. Ashley and I have off tomorrow for the holiday, and then it's back to work on Friday!

***Happy 4th of July***