February & March 2015 Dining Review

CLIENT REPORT

February & March 2015 REVIEW

Chartwells at The University of Texas at Dallas

01 1.1 February Catering Highlights

- Zone 6 Iron Chef Competition

The University of Texas at Dallas hosted the Compass Group Zone 6 meeting and reception on Wednesday, February 25.

After attending the meeting portion of the event, the 80 Compass visitors entered the Student Union Dining Hall where an Iron Chef competition and small vendor fair were being held. While the chefs created their plates for the Iron Chef competition, the Comet Catering team shined with great displays of desserts, flatbreads, cheeses and more.

In addition to the catering team’s set-up, vendors from across the area showcased their products, including AFC sushi, The Mozzarella Company and Hardees.

The Iron Chef competition hosted a total of five teams from the Chartwells Higher Education, Eurest, Morrison sectors. In the hour long competition, team crated desserts with a secret ingredient of Dr. Pepper.

The competition was fierce, but the UTD team of Executive Chef Gene Christiano and Executive Sous Chef Dustin Davidson executed their plan flawlessly. After the dishes were placed at the judges table, a huge sense of relief came over both chefs, knowing they had done the best they could.

Their first plate was a play on traditional coffee and donuts that included Dr. Pepper coffee mousse with kronut holes filled with Dr. Pepper and cherry pastry cream. The second plate was a Snapple and Dr. Pepper dessert trio which included Dr Pepper and Snapple inspired mousses, Snapple mango madness and berry dessert shots,

and Dr Pepper and ginger pizzells cookies.

UTD’s Auxiliary Services Assistant VP, Bob Fishbein, and Project Manager, Pam Stanley, volunteered as judges for the competition, getting to sample each tasty dessert the chefs created. After a tight competition and drawn out announcement of the winners, it was declared that UTD was the winner of the competition! Click here to see a video of the announcement.

The first place finish of this event places Chef Gene in the running for a larger Iron Chef event in March held at Texas Motor Speedway. “I am honored an excited to continue moving forward in this competition, it won’t be easy but I love challenges. We’re going to show the rest of Compass what Chartwells Higher Education can do!” Gene explained.

1.2 February Catering Highlights

01 1.3 March Catering Highlights - CCC Iron Chef

IRON CHEF FINALS: CCC COMPETITION

UT Dallas Dining was so proud to have our Executive Chef Gene Christiano in the final round at the Compass CCC Iron Chef competition at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Chef Gene teamed up with Chef Stephen Gary from Chartwells at Lamar University, and competed against other sector Zone Iron Chef champions. As always, the chefs were limited on time and equipment and challenged to incorporate new Dr. Pepper drink products into the menu… with delicious results.

Chef Gene’s dish was a Dr. Pepper S’more’s cake with graham cracker crumbs, freshly made marshmallow, chocolate ganache disc, blueberry (Bai5 beverage) peanut brittle, and mixed cherry (Bai5 beverage) berry purée.

Chef Stephen’s dish was a sample plate of pineapple beignets with mango icing (utilizing the Bai5 beverage), Dr. Pepper snowballs with toasted coconut, and strawberry dragon fruit (Bai5 as well) mousse with brûlée banana. It was an intense competition, and Chef Gene’s

01 1.4 March Catering Highlights - Mark Salamasick

The Comet Catering team had their largest event of the year March 26-27, serving full meals to over 600 people in three different locations on campus. Planning for the event started months in advance, with attention to detail and organized delivery being highest priorities. To accommodate the large group, the lunch had to be set-up in three different buildings: the Visitor’s Center, School of Management and the Faculty Dining Room.

Three teams were set to serve each location to ensure every patron experienced the same lunch. Walkie-talkies were distributed throughout the catering leaders, ensuring everyone stayed in constant communication with each other and that support could be asked for, if needed. Mark Salamasick, the client event who has used the Comet Catering team for many years, said the team did “great this year on all acconts�. Due to strategic planning and a creative team, the event went well and the team looks forward to another great event next year.

02 2.1 February Residential Highlights - Snow Days - Spirit Fridays

SNOW DAYS

North Texas was hit with a snow storm on February 22, shutting the campus down for 2.5 days. During that time period, Dining Hall West remained open to serve the students stranded on campus. UT Dallas Dining was active on social media throughout the storm, keeping students informed about dining and university updates. Students were very grateful for the dining team that kept them fed over break, writing their thanks on the white boards at Dining Hall West.

SPIRIT FRIDAYS

Beginning on Friday, February 13 the Student Union Dining Hall introduced $5 spirit Fridays.

This idea was brought to the table by UTD Dining Resident District Manager, Shannon Mariani, to bring more school spirit to the dining hall. So far, over 2,000 patrons have enjoyed fun desserts, casseroles, salads and more show off UTD’s colors of orange and green. The UTD Bookstore also even brought their pop-up store for the first spirit Friday, making orange and green options readily available for everyone!

02 2.2 March Residential Highlights - Chef Bal Arneson

After almost two months of planning Chef Bal Arneson visited UT Dallas to share her recipes, tips and cooking tricks with the campus. The event was held on March 31 at Dining Hall West and featured her recipes, giveaways and a meet & greet. Chef Bal was very gracious, speaking with students, asking for feedback on her recipes and signing books. Bal also gave the UTD team a huge compliment, saying that UTD made her No Butter Chicken recipe the best of all the campuses she had visited! Patrons at the event enjoyed the flavors of her dishes, as Chef Bal and Chef Dustin Davidson talked through the recipe process and interviewed students eating her food. Fifteen of her books were given away at the event, each getting a personal signing from Bal herself. Many students told her that her cooking reminded them of home, something which drives her to keep her tight travel schedule. “If I can bring ‘home’ to a student and make their day, it makes my day!” Bal explained. UTD enjoyed Bal’s visit and looks forward to using her recipes in the future.

03 February & March Retail Highlights - The Pub - Jason’s Deli

PUB WINDOWS

Over spring break, Splash Windows, a local window painter, refreshed The Pub’s window design. The project took two full days to complete and was a huge step up from the window art done in the fall. “The Pub” large lettering will remain throughout the year, and new limited time offers and other announcements will be able to be placed underneath the lettering. The new paint is unlike anything else on campus, with many students and faculty talking about it on social media platforms such as YikYak and also as they’re walking past the windows.

PUB LTO’S

The Pub has also seen a lift in limited time offer sales since the beginning of the semester, with the Taj Mahal Chicken Sandwich selling 175 plates and the Pork & Slaw Sandwich selling 221 plates. Both sandwiches were available for four weeks.

JASON’S FRIDAY SPECIAL

Jason’s Deli at the School of Management has also introduced a spring limited time offer, going through the end of April. Assistant Retail Director Antoine Cooper created the special to drive more traffic on Fridays, which are typically slower compared to other weekdays. With the special, patrons can get the California club combo for $8.99 or the Zucchini Grillini for $7.99. So far, the specials have accounted for an average of 6.5% of the Friday sales at Jason’s Deli.

04 4.1 Recognition - Star Associate

JOSÉ SOTO

Outtakes Supervisor & YouFirst Associate of the Quarter

Jose Soto is the Outtakes supervisor,

now.” Chicken Salad and pasta salads are by

overseeing the production of hundreds of

far the most popular options, both of which

sandwiches, salads, wraps, desserts, parfaits

stated as limited time offers suggested by

and fruit cups each day. Jose has been at

Jose. The sales were so successful that both

UT Dallas for almost ten years, starting with

items are now permanently on the menu and

the previous UTD food contractor and then

selling well daily.

transitioning to Chartwells when we took the account in 2009. Jose has been in almost

During the lunch rush on a normal day, you

every location on campus, and is one of

will constantly see Jose and his team refilling

the first people reached out to when help

the air screen shelves to keep stock up and

is needed. His likeable attitude mixed with

patrons happy. “They come to Outtakes

his drive help make him a star on the UTD

for quick service because they don’t have

Chartwells team.

time to wait in line for something madeto order,” Jose said “I make sure they get

Jose started ten years ago as a grill cook and

in and out quickly so they stay happy and

got promoted within three months of hiring

come back” Jose said. UT Dallas had a snow

due to his “get it done” attitude. Jose is not

storm in February and March 2015, causing

one to sit on the side, waiting for someone

most locations to be shut down. Outtakes

else to take the lead. “If there’s something

remained open and was completely wiped

that needs to be done, I’ll do it!” Jose

out of stock, however the next morning

explained. Jose says that UT Dallas feels like

production was back to par due to the hard

a second home to him, and that’s why he’s

work and dedication of his team coming in

chosen to stay as long as he has.

early that morning.

Jose leads a team of three that single-

He has such a go-getter attitude that he

handedly make all of the Outtakes products

wants to open his own restaurant in the next

for the entire UT Dallas campus. The

five to ten years in Mexico, where he was

Outtakes in the Student Union is has the

born. He travels to Mexico frequently to help

most sales per square foot of any of the

support his family, most of whom still live

dining locations and is where most of his

there. “I want to move back, but I need to be

team’s production is sold. In the last year,

able to take care of everyone and I’m getting

production has doubled due to increased

there.” The restaurant will help make that

traffic, which is attributed to the increased

dream a reality. We hope for nothing but the

quality in the Outtakes offerings. “People

best for Jose and his family, but hope he’ll

didn’t want normal sandwiches, they wanted

stay at UT Dallas until he makes that big leap

something special so that’s what we sell

of faith back to Mexico!

04 4.2 National Recognition

The UT Dallas Team was also recognized for a Team Triumph award in the first quarter of fiscal year 2015 and was photographed in the March 2015 Chartwells Magazine.

Visit ChartwellsMagazine.com for the rest of the winners throughout Chartwells!

05 February Audits - Food Safety

Au UT Dallas Dining is proud to announce all locations passed the City of Richardson’s sanitation inspections conducted throughout the year. The certification represents that no dining locations received “critical” ratings in 2014 and affirms UT Dallas Dining’s commitment to safety, sanitation and training for our associates. Way to go, team UTD!

di

ts

06 February & March Social Media Updates - Facebook Page Likes -UTD Dining -The Pub

-Twitter Follows -Instagram Follows

UTD Dining Facebook 817

previ o

781 us

4.06%

UTD Dining Twitter

UTD Dining Instagram

389

129

223 us 2, vio Decrease is due to new Facebook guideline that deletes inactive likes

28 s3

previo u

2,185

pre

The Pub Facebook

18.5%

1st semester

FEBRUARY & MARCH 2015

Chartwells at The University of Texas at Dallas