MU Cafeteria: Behind the Scenes (Typed by Ley)

The tour was very interesting. I was amazed that the executive chef worked 70 hours a week. There is a lot of thought involved in the making of the food. I hope a new appreciation of the employees and staff comes in effect soon. I also think it's a good idea that plates are now used instead of trays because it minimizes food waste. I think the Mediterranean diet is a good idea because it introduces greek food

-Hannah

So many improvements to the whole facility! There's new technology and better appliances to improve the service of food at the dining hall. The new induction heater for example, only heats up the pans that are specially designed for it. Also the heater never burns you and only turns on once a pan is put down on it.

- Jose

I really enjoyed seeing how much effort the staff as a whole puts into making the cafe run smoothly. I always see a lot of the same employees here, and although this is their job, you can tell they really love to cook. they pay attention to details as well, making each meal as good as the next one. I also love how much food we do not waste.

-Elyssa

When we went to the kitchen and saw all the employees working, it really showed how much effort they put in the food. Also, I liked the fact that the chef said that there was improvement on how much food, and how many options. He also mentioned they use less plastic containers to serve students to use; most all of the dishes used are glass.

-Rabia

As we were wandering around, I saw cookbooks from different cultures hanging up above the main stations. It made me first wonder why there were there and whether or not the kitchen gave it out it to students. Then it annoyed me because although I personally appreciated the display of cultures, the food for me didn't reflect that. I much rather enjoy a delicious chocolate filled crepe than read about it.

-Ley

The thing that caught me a little off guard was how un-chaotic the kitchen looked when we went back there. It could have been the fact that they knew we were coming or that the chaos hadn't started yet, but with my experience in kitchens it is always chaotic in there. It made it seem like they had a very firm hold on what they needed to do and that they were prepared to do it.

-Dom

A contemporary dining and serving area with stainless steel appliances and modern backsplash found on a tiny catholic college is how I would describe the dinning hall. Chef Boots and his staff of 50 take pride in what they serve to ensure satisfaction amongst students and faculty. their menu of vegan to cobbler to sushi to lucky charms caters to Marymount diverse population. Safe to say it's Marymount's Best Kept Secret.

- Asia

The real lamps on the pillars really made me feel different. it looked nothing like the rest of Marymount. Overall, MU is pretty plain without any serious modern work but the cafeteria is top notch. I honestly thought for a second that it was somewhere else. Another thing that was new and different for me was the temperature dishes are heated on . Now I know why it is so hot at restaurants.

- Anammian

The fact that Chef Boots worked 70 hours a week AMAZED me. I mean, I can imagine running such a large kitchen would take a lot of work , but I had no idea how time consuming it was. I was also excited to learn that there were in fact, bathrooms on the floor. All year I had been waiting to go back to my dorm NOT ANYMORE! Lastly, learning about measures taken to ensure sustainability really impressed me.

-Katie

Dining Hall trip first impressions (typed by Kamilla)

Ysabelle

It surprised me that Chef Boots works 70 hours a week. I feel too, like Lauren said, that the staff is under appreciated. I think that we are far ahead of the curve by both being Green as well as Fair Trade. I like how the school supports a global perspective in all aspects including dining. This environment strikes me as a hard working group that is reaching out to our local community(farm fresh Fridays) as well as reaching out to the global community(fair trade).

Lauren

So many levels of organization, the team of workers put a lot of effort into the production and presentation of all of our food. They have made so many improvements and really do a great job. I'm ready for dinner.

Guillermo

The detail that struck me was the room that cleans the dishes. It reaches 200 degrees which is interesting. I know that just boiling forks, spoons, etc eliminates germs. The machine that reaches 200 degrees surely eliminates any doubts that there on any germs on the utensils we use.

Veronica

It struck me as i was visiting Marymount's Cafeteria how different this place is versus others, like my old school cafeteria. Here is almost a restaurant quality - in choices, options and even how nice it looks. Other places it's like 2 choices, not specialized food, and dull scenery. The food here sometimes i wish i could have the recipe for! Back in high school i don't think they had recipes, just frozen food that they heated up. And only long tables to sit on.

Sarah

Something that caught my attention in Dining Hall was the vegetarian section. I don't usually see that in many cafeterias so i was surprised to see that they have it. I love how they use different kinds of vegetables, not just corn, etc. It's nice that they don't waste as much food either. Also, vegans can there as well which is nice because they don't have as many options. the vegan/ vegetarian section looks healthy and delicious!

Kamilla

I always cared about sushi station here, just because i really love good sushi. And what did struck me the most about it? I noticed that there are 2 workers there and i shocked to know that girl is like recognizable sushi maker and i don't like her sushi at all. They always fall apart when you put them into soy sauce. But man who looks a little bit Japanese knows his job, his sushi is pretty good actually, thanks God that he is making sushi for today!

Anonymous person:)

One thing that i thought was interesting is hearing sushi described as "a hot spot". I knew that the sushi was popular here, but i guess it never really registered for how much people liked it. I just thought that was really interesting.

Tools of the Trade - Shaun Pour

While we were at William Sonoma, I saw a lot of really neat cooking tools that I had never seen or used before. Although quite a few of them caught my eye, there was one that I thought was really interesting. The one tool that caught my eye more than the others was a citrus zester. Its purpose is to scrape the peel of of a lemon so that it can be put into food to improve the taste a little bit. This cooking tool has a black handle and looks like a fork shaped claw that has holes instead of points to stab food with.

Tools of the Trade - Sofie Scarlett

At William-Sonoma, I noticed a lot of different cooking tools that I had never seen before. It was hard for me to pick just one. The one I had found most interesting was the Beaba Babycook. This cooking tool is a combination steamer, blender, reheater, and defroster. Basically, what it does is turn any food into something a baby can eat. It cooks foods that need to be cooked, such as meat and vegetables. Then, it blends them to a consistency that a baby can eat. This way, you can save money on baby food and your baby can eat the same food as the rest of the family.

The actual tool looks very much like a blender. It was rather tiny, but of course it didn't need to be very large. At first glance, it didn't look like it did everything that it claims to do. But, I'm sure it does. I thought it was very interesting that this device basically made baby food.

Williams-Sonoma

This was definitely my favourite item while visiting Williams-Sonoma because it brought me back to childhood, when grandma used to make Calzone (what we called Pili-pili). We were used to the simple village life so if we wanted something fancy, we had to get a little creative. to mold the Pili-pili, we sat in circles and each person had a fork. we pressed the four fork teeth that the end of each Pili=pili and passed it on until it was completely sealed. Great collaboration and bonding moments. So when I saw that, I had the urge to buy one, and ship it directly to the village so the community could share my amazement that someone actually came up with a way for a machine to do what we considered so much fun.