Direct Line

Chief Warrant Officer Rolando Abad, NAS Sigonella Food Service Officer

The purpose of the General Mess, or the “galley” in Navy lingo, is to provide wholesome and nutritious meals to active duty military personnel who are entitled to Rations-inKind (RIK). This is a very cut and dry statement, but there is more to it for food service personnel.

At all levels in the Navy food business, we strive continually to attain the highest quality food service by efficiently and effectively using the latest food service management techniques.

Just like any other operation in the Navy, our food service operation continues to evolve. Advances in technology enable food service personnel to improve food procurement, inventory, sanitation, accountability and food production. Additionally, these advances improve our mission readiness by allowing food service operations to serve a cost effective menu, cater to the needs of the customers, and allow our galley personnel to prepare food in accordance with specific health guidelines set forth by federal and military nutrition policy to ensure our Navy is manned with healthy and ready force. One of these guidelines is the Go4Green program.

Here at NAS Sigonella, our galley team was able to create a Go4Green compliant 35-day-cycle menu that received a 100% NAVSUP dietitian score. The changes in menus and incorporation of healthier recipes has become the standard in galley food service, and our 35-day-cycle provides more variety than the 21-day-cycle at many other galleys. Although healthy options may not be the most appealing items in the galley to some customers, they provide the necessary diet and health benefits and must be served by our galley staff in accordance with DoD and Navy policies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant challenges for food service. Our galley has dealt with numerous service restrictions to mitigate the spread of the virus. Changes such as strict sanitation requirements, decreased seating capacity, increased social distancing, removal of self-serve bars, addition of take away and ROM meals, and other logistical challenges can be a heavy undertaking. Thanks to the Ristorante Bella Etna (RBE) team’s positive attitude and true dedication to our patrons, our team was able to overcome and embrace these challenges daily without sacrificing the quality of life of our main customers.

Despite the many changes in food service operation, one important special ingredient must remain consistent: providing “exceptional service.” Over the past 27 years of Ristorante Bella Etna’s existence, this special ingredient is always on the minds of our galley staff in order to meet our goal of achieving customer satisfaction daily. Our galley is a four time Capt. Edward F. Ney memorial award winner and a 9 consecutive years CNIC “Five Star” accredited food service operation.

How do we achieve customer satisfaction? The success of a galley operation is due to combination of many factors; we can view it as a well-oiled machine. One factor we rely heavily on is the feedback of our customers.

Constant and effective communication is vital to achieving our goals. Our team, consisting of U.S. military and local national employees, continually looks for ways to improve its service and operation through self-assessments. Our external customers also provide useful feedback to galley leadership and staff. What sets Ristorante Bella Etna ahead of other galley operations is the amount of support from our customers and from our Chain of Command. There is no perfect galley operation, but our team at RBE is dedicated to striving for perfection to achieve excellence. We can only achieve what we strive for if we continue to get assistance from our customers.

We value your honest, professional and constructive feedback, so we ask that our patrons continue to use our Food Service’s suggestion box which is always available during each meal. We understand that tastes change, new personnel arrive, and new foods and recipes are introduced. We need our customer’s feedback to track the crew’s preferences to assess acceptability as well as to make it easier to predict the necessary portions and adjust our menu accordingly.

We also invite our customers to join our quarterly Menu Review Board (MRB). The purpose of the MRB is to allow patron representatives to share recommendations for future menu revisions as well as any concerns our customers may have to the Food Service division. The board also provides food service leadership a mechanism for providing patrons with an understanding of the resources and limitations of the food service operation, educating personnel, and sharing current changes to food service instructions, galley plans and special events. The MRB board schedules will be published on our social media page, POW and all-hands messages.

We thank you for your communication and feedback. Our galley leadership and our staff are on standby to make sure we meet or exceed our customers’ satisfaction!