Pendulum Court Cafe
Winter semester of my junior year, my favorite experience, by far, was in the Pendulum Court Cafe, which is a class! Learning about mass food production and receiving my ServSafe certification got me excited about this class. Throughout the semester, my fellow classmates and I rotated in different positions such as baker, cook, salad worker, and manager. This was a real life experience, since we had over 100 customers each day for lunch and it was so much fun! With my experience in catering, I was completely comfortable in the kitchen and was ready to be active for the long hours (since the lab went from 9am to 2 pm). I learn a lot through hands-on experiences, so I enjoyed learning about the fast pace of food production and the details of management by actually doing it.
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Kitchen Layout and Equipment
Of all of the projects, this was one of my favorites. Our group traveled to a Senior Living facility where we walked through the work area and measured the dimensions of the kitchen. Organization and cleanliness in the kitchen is important to me, so this project was quite exciting and a practical learning experience. As a group, we noted many potential problems and after talking to the food service manager, Chester, we learned about his plans of expansions in the future. Working together, we planned changes for the kitchen's layout to improve the work flow. I have attached pictures of "before" and "after" drawings, a PDF file of an equipment list, and a list of changes to be made to the kitchen.
My contributions: measuring facility dimensions, taking pictures, reorganization of equipment, hand-drawing current and proposed kitchen layout drafts.
My contributions: measuring facility dimensions, taking pictures, reorganization of equipment, hand-drawing current and proposed kitchen layout drafts.
Theme Day Promotion: International Yacht Racing
I am the second in from the left (holding the drink I served to the class)
Our facility was an Upscale Assisted Living center in Provo, and after brainstorming, we decided upon International Yacht Racing for our theme. This theme was fresh and fun, and it encouraged the residents to get out into the fresh air and use the pond that is there. A theme day is a great monotony breaker, which is great for residents who plan to stay a long time. I put together the drinks for our presentation and researched food and decor for the event. Chester, the food manager of our facility does ice sculpting on the side, so it is a feasible idea for our event (minus that fact that we originally planned it for August).
Menu Planning
This project took some time to put together as a group, but was really thrilling to see the final product. Assigned to make a menu for an Assisted Living Center, we decided as a group to have each member be responsible for the meals for one day, and my contribution was Day 3. The entire menu was a 6-day cyclic menu, a length of time we thought would be appropriate for our facility.
Customer Satisfaction in Restaurants: Layout, Ambiance, and More
This was the big research paper that I wrote my Junior year. I love restaurants and comfortable atmospheres so this topic came to mind quickly when I started looking for more information on food service management. I was actually surprised at how much psychology and research is involved with creating a new restaurant. I cannot go into any restaurant now and not think about the ambiance and layout.
Recipe Adjustment Assignment
Recipes in an industrialized setting often need to be standardized. Once completed, recipes can be converted to produce the desired quantity. If the software to modify recipes is unavailable, there are other ways to modify recipes. This assignment gave me experience adjusting recipes so I could use them in a food service industry. We learned how to convert a recipe yielding 32 portions to give 84 portions.