Week 4: The Exploration Continues

This week I went to the Union Market at the Oklahoma Memorial Union. As a 50/50 convenience store and cafeteria, the Union Market sells a variety of grab-and-go items, but also has a fresh salad bar (hand-cut), a hot bar, with food cooked daily, a soup station, and a sandwich/fry stand with all you can customize options! I was able to observe how manager Amy Zuniga operated such a unique operation and got to experience first hand what she does in a day as the manager of the Union Market. In addition to bookwork, she also mans various stations at the front-of-house when she is understaffed and cleans the serving area of spills and overflow—all while ensuring quality of the hot bar, salad bar, and soups!

I ended the week with some recipe testing for my Recipe Modification assignment: gluten-free, vegan, top-8 allergen free chocolate donuts and GF, vegan, Top-8 overnight oats. Since I was baking, I worked with Couch Restaurants' Baker, Ms. Sung Jun Kim, who taught me the basics of baking (I don't bake at all—no finesse :p) and helped my donuts reached the desired, delicious texture and consistency, all the while baking her own Valentine's Day specialty cakes.

Valentine's Day at Couch Restaurants.

Weeks 1-3: The Shaky Beginning

HOW'S IT GOING Y'ALL? Kevin Huang here, new dietetic intern/CPMA student from the OUHSC. Why is this a shaky beginning? Well, because this post is covering 3 weeks! Geez that's a long time to wait to post, but I have an excuse... I'm a terrible person and have the memory of a goldfish. Also, I was getting sick, moving apartments, going to weddings—cut me some slack! Luckily, I've been working with one of the most accommodating preceptors there is... Ms. Dot Flowers! She started off my first week busy, with a rotation at Couch Restaurants. Under the guidance of General Manager Sam Ford and Operations Manager Marcia Musser, I did my best at making stir-fries and taco bowls. However, the supervisors could only do so much, but I think the end result was alright... nobody threw up (at least that I saw) and I got some repeat customers the next day! Week 1 also included heading to the kitchen side of operations and prepping the meat and vegetables for Casa del Sol. My years in food service and the restaurant business definitely paid off these first two days and we got done with most of the prep work early. My last 2 days in the Couch Restaurants consisted of helping Executive Chef Nathan Eckert, also the Production Manager, finalize, standardize, and input Couch's delicious top secret recipes into his filing system.

Week 2 was a surprise. I was transported to Hogwarts where my next rotations would begin. Well... I was sent to the Residential Colleges, but these beautiful buildings were so reminiscent of the halls of Hogwarts, and they even had a sorting system with 2 houses: Dunham College and Headington College. These were NOT here when I left OU as an undergraduate and I am so disappointed! According to General Manager Chase Wiens, the two houses are Gryffindor and Ravenclaw (his words were social and studious). Here I inherited opening duties like restocking the breakfast supplies, overseeing and helping the opening staff, and shadowing the Operations Manager, Doug Milliken, who taught me the responsibilities of running a new operation like the Residential Colleges dining hall. This week ended with a return to the Couch Restaurants under Kevin Barker for a safety and sanitation inspection and wouldn't you know it... Sam, Nathan, and Marcia run a tight, clean ship. Any and all inadequacies were promptly dealt with and amended.

The hectic rotating finally settled on week 3. This week saw me helping Dot with her Allergy Awareness at the Oklahoma Memorial Union. While setting up, Dot taught me that these events were imperative due to many students/faculty not knowing about the services OU offers concerning specialty diets. Dot and others in her department help students/faculty with Celiac disease, allergies, and other dietary requirements, providing on-campus dining locations to restaurants that meet their specific diets. This specific events focused on vegan, gluten-free foods free of the top 8 allergens. There were also free samples of olive oil brownies, a vegetable agrodolce, and italian sweet-and-sour sauce, and a one-pot spaghetti that were surprisingly delicious!

Dot Flowers, Ingredient Specialist, and her agrodolce.

Weeks 5, 6, 7, & 8!

Week 5: 

This week I really focused on getting to caught up on my assignments that I have been working on during this rotation! I appreciate all of you for taking the time to answer my questions I have had over these assignments along with helping me completely my various projects along the way! 

Week 6: 

This week I participated in helping Dot with her allergy awareness booths. She had one on Tuesday and one on Thursday. The booth on Tuesday was an absolute success! We went through all of the samples and we had a lot of students and staff asking questions about food allergies! On Thursday the booth was outside, it was a little harder to attract students over to try the samples. We had some samples left over and we did attract several students who wanted to learn about food allergies and were interested in reading out poster boards. Overall it was a success though, having a good amount of students who came by. 

On Wednesday of this week I met with Lauren Royston. She and I discussed the rolls that human resources plays in helping OU housing and food services run as smoothly as it does. She was very kind to take the time to meet with me and answer all of my questions! 

Week 7: 

This week I was able to go to Crossroads! I was shown around their facility and I also got to head over to bookmark to see how that was ran. I was very impressed with how well operations ran! I had a great time getting to know everyone and I appreciate the time they took to talk and answer my questions. 

On Tuesday I worked at Wagner with Curtis and James. Both Curtis and James sat down with me and took the time to answer all of my questions which was really great! I had a great time working with Flo and getting to see how the facility accommodates to so many different needs. 

On Thursday I presented my In-service at the managers meeting! I did my in-service over food allergies and some suggested protocols and guidelines that should be followed when preparing foods that are for students with food allergies or restrictions.

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Week 8: 

MY LAST WEEK!  On Monday and Tuesday I worked with Amy and all of her employees over at Enstein's Bagel Brothers! It was great to talk to her and her staff about how things run over there! I have never worked in a frachise operation before so that was a great experience! On Tuesday they had an audit and GOT AN "A"! It was honestly really interesting to see how an audit is done.

I can’t believe this rotation is over! It went by so quickly and I am very grateful for all the people I have met and have had the opportunity to learn from! You have all been amazing! It has been extremely helpful for me to see how a program this large is able to successfully feed so many students! It was my first experience with food service and it has been a blast! I appreciate everything you all did to make this such an amazing rotation! It is a little bittersweet to leave and I wish you all the very best! 

Victoria Dahan

Week 3 & 4 + Buisness Plan

Week 3

I was originally supposed to work in Couch for a couple of days this week but Cate was opening earlier than it was supposed to so it was short staffed! I was able to head over and see how operations work over there along with helping pick up some slack! I have not had much experience in a kitchen so I was extremely happy to have had that opportunity! I worked at the fryer helping prepare french fries, corn dogs, and chicken fingers. I was a little overwhelmed at first but after a few rounds, I got the hang of it! I expect a job offer to be Cate’s full time fryer here pretty soon :).

I met with Steve during this week so he could help me review my recipe and input the ingredients and instructions into cboard! Cboard is much more complicated than I was expecting! It is so important to make sure that you are precise with what you are inputing to avoid any big differences with the final product. 

I was able to head over to Couch on friday and talk with Marcia. She was extremely kind to sit and talk with me and answer all of the questions I had on the ins and outs of how couch is run. After meeting with Marcia I was fortunate enough to sit in on a meeting between Sam, Marcia and Nathan! 

I also finished off the week by observing and helping Kevin with his safety and sanitation check! I learned a lot about how to perform an inspection which was an amazing opportunity! 

Week 4

WEEK OF MY BUSINESS PLAN!!!  

My Business plan is on thursday and I worked on organizing the set up, the food, and the handout for a couple weeks now. On Tuesday and Wednesday I was able to head over to the couch and actually help out with creating me recipes! I really appreciate all of the help and guidance I received from the kitchen staff during this week! It was a learning experience for me and I could not have been more thankful for you all providing me with your guidance and kind words or encouragement. 

The event was a success, we hit some hiccups during set up but other than that, everything ran very smoothly! The students really enjoyed their samples and learning about food allergies and intolerances.  

Weeks 1 &2 - Victoria Dahan

Hello! My Name is Victoria Dahan and I am a Dietetic Intern from OUHSC working with Dot! I am excited to get the opportunity to work in all of your facilities and learn about what happens at OU Housing and Food Services! 

Week 1:
I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Chris and Doug at Dunham this week! I talked to Chris about the different roles that dietitians can have throughout their careers along with the underappreciated nature dietitians have in hospital settings. I just finished up my clinical rotation so I could not agree with this more! I received the grand tour of Duhnam. Dunham was preparing to use both kitchens to designate where foods are being served. I was able to help out during breakfast learning how the students place orders and how the staff is able to cook breakfast to order. I was then moved over to learn how the salad station was run! I learned how to make pasta bakes and I also helped create a sign for the pasta station -- Spaghetti Island!

Week 2: 

Week 2 I was able to help out with sorority recruitment move in! This was interesting to see how OU housing and food service plays a role in ensuring move in is done smoothly. I went to the University of Arkansas and it was mostly a free for all so it was a great to experience how other schools organize move in. 

This week I also helped with Dot’s booth for move in! At this booth we served breakfast foods along with some lunch samples for parents and students to try! All samples were gluten free, vegan, and top 8 allergen free. I had one parent come up with a student who was gluten free and lactose in tolerant and she was so happy that her student got to try a doughnut for the first time!!

On Friday of this week I was fortunate enough to go to couch and begin my first trial of the recipe I am developing! It is going to be a Broccoli Tabbouleh. 

Week 7 & 8
WOW! I can't even believe that my time is up here... I have always heard from dietitians that their food service management rotation was the worst out of the three, but I could't disagree more. This rotation has been amazing. I got to experience food management in away that actually applies to what I want to do. I was able to visit most sites on campus and got to experience many different management style. I tried to learn everything I could from everyone that I met here. I asked a BILLION questions and everyone was so quick to provide an answer.

Week 7 included giving my Employee In-Service presentation, which went very well. I even had people ask questions about it when I was at their location. It was over why the Vegetation Station at Couch restaurants is separate. I felt like this was an easy way to talk about some very big topics, such as: cross-contact, cross-contamination, hand-washing, and proper cooking temperatures. I also spent some time in Xceteria with Rebecca, and it was great to see the retail side of ordering and management. It is very different in many ways than running a normal restaurant. 

For the start of week 8 I was at Dunham with Chase and Doug. Chase was amazing and very thoughtful. He started the day off by sitting me down and talking to me about his experience with dietitians and giving some great advice on how to work in the clinical setting (My next rotation is at a hospital). I have loved asking everyone how they want to work with a dietitian and, in their opinion, what it would take to have a good working relationship. It is definitely something I will be using in the future as I work with food service.

I have had such a a great time learning about management and meeting everyone here at OU Housing and Food. You all have created such a welcoming environment that makes it easy to come and learn here. Thank you to everyone who I have met who, have helped me with all of my projects, shown me how you approach your job, and helping me increase my knowledge on how to run a successful food service business.

Thank you so much!!
Best,
Amber

Week 6
Good Afternoon!
I FINALLY got to go to Headington! I was so excited and made the most out of my two days! Curtis and James were so happy to answer all my questions. It was so awesome to see what OU Housing and Food does for OUr athletes. They offer all kinds of different options to keep the athletes and other residents happy and healthy.

This was also the week of my business plan. It went off without a hitch! Couch did an AMAZING job on the food! My theme was playoff time, since we are about to come up on NHL and NBA playoffs. I wanted to demonstrate that individuals with allergies or vegans can have delicious options too. We had Dot's Pepper Salsa, Buffalo Cauliflower "Wings", Vegan "Ranch", and chocolate chip cookie dough. Couch also saved the cauliflower from getting soggy by not putting the sauce on "wings". I was very fortunate to have watched two of Dot's events the last week, since my original business plan date was canceled due to the weather. This really helped in making sure my event went off well! We received many positive reviews and even had some students that were able to get assistance from Dot for their food allergies.

Week 7 is my in-service date! I am so excited to talk about the need for separation in the Vegetation Station at Couch.
Have a great week everyone!