This has been an extraordinary year for UMass Dining, we won several national awards, but I think that 2009 is going to be even better.  Our meal plan participation continues to grow, the latest fall customer satisfaction survey was the highest in recent memory, and most of all, we are going to be able to continue to provide you with a high quality program and meet the budgetary requirements during these economic challenging times.

There are some challenges facing us as we enter 2009. We have continued to experience high commodity prices in food, energy and labor.  Just in food alone, in spite of aggressive negotiation with our vendors, prices rose by 5% and continue to rise. Our energy bill will go up by another 7.7% next year and our labor costs will be up 13% compared to last year.  We are a revenue generating department just like Housing, and Continued Ed in that we do not receive any findings from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In other words, we must be self-supporting and meet our financial objectives annually. We are a lean organization and always try to be as efficient as possible. The state budget cuts to UMass may not have any direct impact on us, but it  will affect us in cash sales, catering and other areas. Our goals remain the same - to continue to provide you with a top notch dining program second to none, and to put customers first.

Here are some of my wishes:

1.    The food commodity prices to become stable with  not more than 2 % price increase
2.    Less food wastage everywhere. Please just take what you can consume whether using a tray or not using tray
3.    Help us to conserve energy and at all DC’s; the thermometer  will be set at 67F
4.    Continue to implement weekly specials in the spring semester, many of them are new and improved
5.    Offer more healthy options from whole grains, fruits and vegetables to less sodium in the recipes
6.    Continue to enter contest to receive several national recognition,  including being in the top 20 of campus food programs in the 2009 Princeton Review

Happy New Year and Best Wishes to you and your family!

Ken Toong
Director
UMass Dining
Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu

This was the first time in recent memories that we had to postpone some exams; on Thursday morning, I got a call from the Housing Services to alert me that students might stay one day to two days longer in the residence due to the inclement weather. Immediately, I told them that the DCs would stay open, no questions asked. Here at UMass Dining, we understand how important it is to provide a good meal to our customers and the last thing that we want is to have them worry about eating. Immediately, the managers contacted our staff at Hampshire and Worcester and asked for volunteers to work on Sunday, if needed. First came Friday; the school was closed at 10:00 am, our contingency plan kicked in for Sunday, and many staff stayed and worked OT.

I can not say enough good things about our staff; with a moment’s notice, they came in to work on their days off, rather than shopping for holiday gifts or other chores - they surely possess the spirit to serve.

I was into work on both Saturday and Sunday after shoveling snow numerous times in my driveway; it was indeed a winter wonderland outside with about 10 inches of snow. But it was even more wonderful when I walked into the DC and saw our customers being served by our dedicated staff especially during the stormy weather.

I am blessed with wonderful staff and world best customers. It truly is a most wonderful time of the year!

Ken Toong

Director
UMass Dining

Contact ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu

As we approach the end of  this semester, I want to personally thank you for your continued support of UMass Dining. It was an exciting year for us. We won several national awards; 23% of our produce came from local farmers and the number on the meal plan increased to 14,000, however, we have not forgotten our commitment to continue to improve.

I often hear from many of you in comments about my blog and want to thank you for your good wishes, great ideas and suggestions on how we can serve you even better. As we enter 2009, we intend to introduce more exciting concepts and specials, with healthy options in mind; and we will be rolling out new menu concepts throughout the spring semester.

I wish you the best of luck on your exams. Have a safe and happy holiday.  I’ll look forward to seeing all of you at the DC’s in the new year.

Ken Toong
Director
UMass Dining

Thank you to our world best customers
Last night, several managers and I were present for the pregame ceremony of the UMass Men’s Basketball team vs. BC. With the sponsorship of the game by UMass Dining, during the pregame ceremony we were able to say thank you to our customers and to recognize their support in making UMass Dining what it is today. When they announced UMass Dining on the loud speakers, it gave me goose bump and it was quite an experience to walk out to the center court, with crowds of people in their seats. Later, during half time, part of a video on UMass Dining was also shown. I just cannot say enough about how appreciative I am for our supportive customers and it is also nice to have a partnership with UMass Athletics - Go UMass!

Ken Toong
Director
UMass Dining

Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu

I did find time today, to read an article in December’s issue of Newsweek about a similar situation in which a successful executive, Tom gave up a 31-year publishing career to open a diner in Maine so that his family could have a better simpler life. Tom was well aware that a switch from corporate life in the big city to owning a diner that opens at 6 a.m. would not be a piece of cake, but he felt it would be worth the challenge.

Both my brother in law Stu and Tom would describe their former jobs as being in a rat race. They had something in common: after years at the same job, even with different challenges — it was the same endless cycle of early mornings, late nights, long commutes and little time left over to do all of the things they wished they had more time for.

Stu is busy meticulously painting the interior of his house, with plans to remodel his kitchen and build his own cabinets (he has already put down hardwood floors); however, he has no intention of opening a restaurant. Meanwhile he will keep training and one day plans to run the Boston Marathon.

To me, both Stu and Tom are risk takers. Both of them lost the passion for their past jobs and thy wanted to control their own schedule, their success and their sanity. They are much happier people now and I wish them all the best in whatever they choose to do.

As for myself, I love my job, have a great boss, and work among great managers and world’s best customers; plus I only live 7 min away.

I feel blessed and even get paid for something that I love to do.

Ken Toong
Director
UMass Dining
Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu

The next stop was McGuirk Stadium at 2:30 pm where UMass football closed out the 2008 season and played against Hofstra. We were expecting a lower turned since it was not a playoff game. On the other hand, we always have to be ready, for a crowded stadium or whether or not it is half full. When it comes to foot ball, it is a big operation on game day for us. We take care of the two alumni tents, press box, 6 concession stands and hacking. I noticed that almost one out of five people had in hand, a hot beverage, and there were not too many water bottles as in past games.
It was a rather an easy win for us and it was nice to a have a crowd of 5000 come out to show their support. During the half time, as always, our marching bands performed their magic with music that warms your heart. It will be the first time in awhile that our staff will not have to work during the Thanksgiving holiday, since there will not be a playoff game.

The last stop for the day was Mullins Center, for a Mass Attack against BC, the defending champion. Having spent a considerable amount of time living in Canada, I have become fond of hockey. It is a fast and physical game with lots of skill. I think our students love hockey here. It is the biggest draw for students to attend a game with their friends and it is good for concessions, since there are three periods with breaks between each. We knew yesterday was the biggest game of the week. With the instate rivalry and our strong team this year, we were projecting a sell out. Well, it came true. We opened every venue at Mullins. While I was monitoring the traffic flow at one of the concession stand, I overheard a conversation between two men

Man 1: my son is a freshman here and stays on campus - he likes it here.
Man 2: Oh yeah, nice
Man 1: The food is great here, they are the best in the country and my son loves it.
Man 2: (kept nodding his head)
Man 1: I join him once in awhile - when you go the cafeteria, it looks like a five star restaurant, they even served lobsters the other day, Bill Crosby, was paying for it
Man 2: I want to go back to school

I was so tickled to hear nice comments from parents and it made me feel good about what we are doing at UMass. We love parents, they are our ambassadors. Although, Bill Crosby had nothing to do with the lobster dinner, it really didn’t matter.

In terms of the game, it was an overtime thriller. The game could have gone either way with lot of checking, penalties and much screaming from UMass students. There were 41 seconds left in overtime to lift the Minutemen to a 4-3 victory over defending national champion Boston College.

The win took place before a sellout crowd of 8,389, the largest home crowd in UMass history. It was truly a gift.

Ken Toong
Director
Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu

We talked about the “destination dining model” that we are have here. As you are aware, although all DCs offer similar cuisines and concepts, each adds its unique twist to cater their students. Let’s take Worcester DC, as an example, our Oak Room menu is heavily influenced by an Asian theme since 25% of the student population that goes to Worcester is of Asian decent. As a result, we have a strong Asian program that offers Sushi, Cantonese Cuisine, Pho noodle, Thai Foods and Dim Sum to meet our customers’ needs. With most of the classes located in the central and Northeast area of the campus, Worcester DC boosts the largest grab-n-go program on campus. On an average day, 1500 students are using the eat-on-the-run program during the lunch period. We also installed the Breakfast-to-go program and hired extra staff to enhance the program .

On the other hand, at Berkshire, our renovated DC, which is the hub of the Southwest; we offer world cuisines with 11 concepts, plus late night options. Berkshire serves more grill items than at any other DC and is the largest hang out for late night option, with over 600 students between 9:30 to midnight, where we feature different items for different nights.

I think it is important to customize the dining program to meet the needs of our customers; it is also more efficient in terms of consistency and program strength. There is no doubt that it has been one of our successful strategies in applying the destination dining model to residential dining. But other strategies play just as an important role, in the culinary excellence we have at UMass, such as adopting “flavor” strategy (good tasting food), providing training to our culinary staff and installing weekly specials with guest chefs.

It is worth pointing out that students tend to dine at the DC closer to their residence hall as is the case usually, at every other college. This is definitely true at UMass. Even with the opening of the Berkshire, there was a large “deflection” of Hampshire students in the beginning, and then slowly, but surely, students returned to dining at the Hampshire again. There is a tremendous amount of loyalty among students for particular DCs, usually related to the one that they dine at often.

One thing that I try to avoid is answering the question on what DC has the best food. I usual answer that they are all good and their choice is part of destination dining.

By the way, before I forget, Hampshire DC is famous for their Pizza and Deli program; and Franklin DC is known for its Kosher program, soup program and vegetarian options.

Ken Toong
Director
UMass Dining
Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu

However, there are two myths of UMass Dining that I would like to dispel and put them to rest for good. Let me share two of them with you.

1. UMass Dining uses preservative in food preparation.
There was an article today in the Daily Collegian that mocked us about serving artificially preserved and flavored pies at Franklin. Come on, give us a break, we do not serve many pies on our menu and all of them are made at the UMass Bakeshop. Chef Simon, our bakeshop manager and a UK trained pastry chef, loves to make truffles, soufflés and other fancy pastry. It will not do justice to him to tell him that he uses artificial ingredients for his products. There are absolutely no additives or chemical preservatives added to our food. Our award winning chefs do not use any artificial ingredients to flavor our food. In fact, Chef Willie is a very strong believer in using natural ingredients. It is important to know what is in the food; many students eat an average of 20 times times a week with us during the school year. Food at UMass is nutritious and safe to eat. We offer many food selections with health in mind, and this year alone, we have added more fresh fruit, authentic ingredients and whole grain options. Last year, 23% of our produce came from local farmers and we only serve sustainable seafood. You won’t find any trans-fats in our food, that’s because we only use trans-fat free oil in any grilling or frying. In fact, we are going one step further soon, as we will be switching to Omega-9 Oils. It is the next generation of oils made of 100 canola that are healthier because they have zero trans fat and have the lowest amount of saturated fats among oils, allowing us to reduce bad (sat) fats by up to 80 percent.

2. Bill Crosby is a major sponsor of UMass Lobster Dinner
There has been a rumor that our beloved alumnus Bill Cosby was sponsoring the annual lobster dinner for UMass students. It would be kind for him to do that; we are proud of him and we know that he is rich and famous; however, I think he has better charity causes to donate his money to. The lobster event is 100% funded by UMass Dining; it is a great way to treat our students on the meal plan and everyone deserves a little treat every now and then.

Please help me to put these myths to rest.

Ken
ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu

It was great to be in Las Vegas in late October, the weather was dry and warm – 85F, during the day and 60 at night. The conference hotel was a long way from the strip and I think the organizers made these arrangements on purpose so that we could all focus on the conference meetings.

The conference talked about sustainability, world flavor and the importance of innovative ideas, to provide our customers with good value. It was nice to see my peers from UNH, Miami, Purdue and Northwestern, as we all share the passion of putting students first. It was also nice to be recognized by the magazine as the Best in Show winner. UMass Dining will continue to innovate and to get even better.

As you know, hotels in Vegas are mega size. They usually have many restaurants on site from cafes, buffet style sites to celebrity chef high end bistros. For a breakfast one day we deliberately chose the buffet restaurant not only of better value, but we also wanted to see the variety of offerings so that we might learn something from them and be able to implement some ideas at UMass. We were not disappointed; they were many concepts from omelet bars, pizza breakfast station, 3 varieties of scrambled eggs and potatoes, eggs Benedict, to plenty of fresh fruit selections. The price was great as well - $8.95 for all you care to eat. I was so impressed with the quality and variety that I encourages our executive chef to have breakfast there. I said to myself, if they can do it, we can do it even better at UMass.

The following day, after the opening reception, I went back to the same place for dinner. I had an urge for Asian stir fry but most of all, wanted to see what they offered for dinner.  I noticed the price was much higher, $16.95 per person and I guess the days of the super inexpensive buffet food in Vegas are long gone. The place wasn’t very busy and it was around  8:00 pm.  I went to have some noodles, dim sum items and some vegetables.  The taste was fine but everything was overcooked, mushy and dry. It looked like they were out there for a while. I then checked out the sushi bar and Mexican food station; they were even worst, not only was there little variety but the food items were overcooked. As for the chef or the manager, I did not see anyone around. The food we offer at UMass really put them to shame. I complained to the wait staff; he told me that the menu has been around for a while with few changes.  What shocked me was the difference between breakfast and dinner at the same place was the difference between night and day.  There was no value for the dinner.  I was thinking to write to the GM and let him know about it, but maybe not, as it is not my business.

As nice as it is to go away and get inspiration from seeing new things, it is great to be home and I look forward to seeing everyone for the Halloween Special. Our “All Treats , No Tricks”  is our most popular special. It is a great way to take a break from the Mid term and a fun evening for all who participate. Happy Halloween!

Ken Toong
Director

Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu

But first things first; we are rolling out a Taste of Korea at the Berkshire International Station starting tomorrow for two weeks. It is a creation of Chef Tony Jung, our award-winning chef. Tony and his crew will prepare several dishes including his signature dish Bulgogi made with short ribs and Japchae (transparent noodles with beef and vegetables), Pajeon (Green Onion Pancake), Dwenjang Datji Golbi (Pork stew).

By coincidence, I got a call from a writer of Wall Street Journal and she asked me about Korean Cuisine on campus. I told her that our students enjoy a variety of food and UMass dining is proud to have 15 world cuisine served daily. She was quite impressed.

In case you are unfamiliar with Korean cuisine, it is largely based on rice, noodles, tofu, vegetables, and meats. Traditional Korean meals are noted for the number of side dishes (banchan) that accompany steam-cooked short-grain rice. Every meal is accompanied by numerous banchan. Kimchi, a fermented, spicy vegetable dish is usually served at every meal. Korean cuisine usually involves heavy seasoning with sesame oil, doenjang (fermented soybean paste), soy sauce, salt, garlic, ginger, and gochujang (red chili paste).

At UMass dining, we serve Kimchi daily at three of our dining commons, and we are blessed with a diversity of staff including 5% that are Korean. Some of them brought their favorite dishes with them to work on Friday and shared their food with each other as a group, and invited other staff to try some.

I think you will enjoy the Korean cuisine; it fits our philosophy of providing “small plates, big flavor”. Make sure you have some rice and don’t forget the Bori cha (Tea) as well.

Ken Toong
Director
Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu