Several presentations were on value, sustainability and menu innovations; I found one question that most interested me was on “memorable meals”, that is, what are some of the best things on the menu that your customers will remember. It might be the quality of food, or the great service, or a nice surprise even, that might create a lasting memory at a mealtime. It is a lofty goal to do so; most of us in the food business strive to create an experience for each meal. At UMass, our 14,000 students eat with us several times per day, and they are looking for new varieties of food daily and weekly. I don’t blame them – I would expect the same thing. That is why we have so many weekly specials to keep our students interested. For me there have been quite a few really memorable meals at the DCs, including the stir-fry, the sushi, the beef brisket noodle bowl, the lobster dinner and the guest chef series. What’s yours?

In terms of our panel discussion on Campus Dining, it went well. Nancy Kruse, the moderator, started off the session with a presentation articulating that College and University foodservice is arguably the most complex and creative segment of the food services industry and how we are catering to today’s students’ needs, the people who will be the customers of tomorrow for the chain restaurants; then she prompted us with questions.

I told the audience that Sushi, Stir-fry, sliders, and non-sugary drinks are all popular on the campus and that restaurants should offer smaller portions, less-processed food, reduce the sodium content, offer healthier options and buy more locally grown items. Shawn, my peer from Berkeley mentioned that students are breakfast healthy, but turn to more high calorie comfort foods such as wings, and pizza for late night snacks. We all agreed that students want foods to be fresh, tasty and prepared in front of them.

When all is said and done, UMass Dining wants to create memorable meals every day.

This is Ken Toong and thank you for keeping UMass Dining at the top.

Ken Toong
Director

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

You can follow Ken Toong on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/KenToong

I was in Toronto again last weekend and visited my mom; she is still in hospital after three weeks but is doing much better. While in Toronto, all my relatives thought Canada would win the match up with the US; that did not surprise me. As expected, the Olympic craze is on “big time” in Canada. Olympic merchandise was flying off the shelves everywhere. We could not find any clothes left, with the Olympic logo, at The Hudson Bay store in Toronto. We were told by far the most popular item has been the ubiquitous red mittens, which cost C$10 ($9.60 US). They’ve already hit the 3 million mark in mitten sales. My daughter bought me some mittens during an earlier trip north and at that time there were ‘tons’ of them available, but now since they became so popular, apparently stocks throughout the country were sent to Vancouver to help meet the demand for souvenirs and they are in short supply elsewhere throughout the country.

Back to hockey, as you know, it is essentially a religion up there. All my nephews have been playing hockey since they were little kids, as well as my niece Tiffany, who in grade 11, is a super star in her league, and is playing highly competitive hockey and looking forward to playing at the college level, perhaps in the USA.
On Sunday morning, my daughter and I left Toronto early in the morning to be at home in time to watch the first big game. We arrived just in time in Hadley for the game at 7:00 pm. I was a bit surprised it was on MSNBC, a cable network, rather than NBC, and had to watch the standard definition. HD for televised sports makes such a big difference, me anyway. In Canada, it was on the national network.

It turned out to be a great game for the US, at least; I think they had a better goalie and played a smarter game. My family was a bit disappointed and after the game, but personally, I am ok if either Canada or the USA comes out on top. Canadians and Americans are close neighbors and good friends. We have many similarities when comes to food even; chowder is as popular in New England as much as the Maritimes in Canada, and Mac and Cheese is a popular comfort food for both countries – Thanksgiving is a big feast either side of the border (just in different months) and Turkey is the main dish. It should be no surprise to know that both Canada and the United States share a number of similar traditions, pastimes and desires — including winning hockey games, especially against your next-door neighbor!

This is Ken Toong and thank you for keeping UMass Dining at the top.

Ken Toong
Director

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

You can follow Ken Toong on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/KenToong

The Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year because it is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. It usually occurs in January or February. This is the year of tiger; as you may not know, each year on the Chinese calendar is assigned an animal from the Chinese zodiac, which rotates on a 12-year cycle. People born during a specific year are thought to have attributes of their particular animal – tigers are confident, daring and unpredictable, for example.

Kung Hei Fat Choy means wishing you prosperity and wealth. The Chinese have one of the richest and colorful traditions in the world and one of their most anticipated celebrations is the Chinese New Year. The Chinese New Year is a celebration of change … out with the old and in with the new!

For my family, we did not do anything special yet to celebrate the New Year, instead we focused more on Valentine’s Day. In the afternoon, my daughter and I went out and picked out a card and a dozen roses for my wife; I think she approved.

On Tuesday, we will celebrate Chinese New Year at all DCs and you won’t want to miss it. The evening will include a traditional lion dance, and special food such as Peking Duck, Suckling Pig, Orange Chicken, and Longevity Noodles, plus 11 other items, not to mention Red Envelopes stuffed with a $5 gift card that will be given out to 125 customers at each DC.

The Chinese New Year’s celebration is always my one of my favorite events; just to follow the lion dancers (UMass students are some of the performers), to visit each DC and to share the joy of the night with others, makes it memorable evening. I look forward to seeing you.

This is Ken Toong and thank you for keeping UMass Dining at the top.

Ken Toong
Director

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

You can follow Ken Toong on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/KenToong

There are many other ways to keep warm, including the use the food and beverages. Last week, when we were in Toronto, Ontario, I noticed just about every other person had a cup of Tim Horton’s coffee in their hand, on their way to work; something just to keep their hands warm perhaps, and believe me, I had three cups in the morning while I was there and I usually drink just one cup of coffee before I go to work.

For UMass Dining, we have several ways to help you beat the weather the winter blahs. Our special event manager Martha has cooked up several events just for you. Hopefully, these events give us all something to look forward to and provide a means to socialize with others and invigorate ourselves.

We just ended Black History Month with a special that featured great dishes such as Peanut Soup, Dora Watt, Carthaginian Flank Steak to Sweet Potato Pies; I tried a little of each and every one of them and they were delicious! – we will try to roll out more Soul Food and African dishes next year.

1. This week we will have a New England Harvest Dinner on Wednesday night, featuring many comfort foods from local free-range turkey, cod and squash, etc. My favorite will be the Strawberry Short Cake made with local frozen strawberries. Don’t miss it.
2. Be Mine Valentine Special will be on Sunday, February 14, 2010. You will enjoy the chocolate fondue, red velvet cake and more chocolate cake, plus a chance to win a gift basket for your loved one.
3. Chinese New Year Special will be on Feb 16, just two days after the Valentine’s Special. We will celebrate the Year of Tiger with an array of 12 gourmet dishes from Peking Duck, Suckling Pig, Shrimp with Cashew, Spicy Orange Chicken, Longevity Noodles, etc. You will all be able to eat like a “King”, not to mention, to enjoy the Lion Dance and some Lucky Money.
4. Frost Your Own Cupcake will be back on February 24, with Dede Wilson as the guest chef. This is always one of the most popular specials.
5. The Dine and Win Contest will start on February 15; with a chance to win a flight for you and your guest to fly anywhere in the Continental North America, plus, $500 spending money. The winners will be announced on March 5, just in time to enjoy the Spring Break. This promotion is a partnership with Coke and UMass Dining; all UMass students are eligible to enter.
6. The Visiting College Chef Series will resume at Berkshire with 4 schools. This time it will be more of an Iron Chef-like competition and the students will decide the winners. You will be able to sample cuisines from four regions of the country and each school’s favorite.

Watch for more information through facebook, website, fliers and ads. It is going to be an exciting time, with super weeks ahead, and before you know it, it will be spring time. We look forward to celebrating the arrival of spring, and then I can finally pack up my complaints, about the cold winter weather.

This is Ken Toong and thank you for keeping UMass Dining at the top.

Ken Toong
Director

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

You can follow Ken Toong on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/KenToong

I was in Toronto this past weekend to visit my mother in the hospital; she had a major surgery and is on the road to recovery.
Between the hospital visits, I was able to sneak into the Pacific Mall, billed as the largest indoor Asian mall in North America. It is a shopping attraction that incorporates a traditional Pacific-style market with 400 stores, selling a large variety of retail goods as well as herbs, prepared Chinese foods and entertainment.

In case you have never been to Toronto, it is the largest city in Canada and one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There are 6 Chinese districts alone in the metro Toronto area, with a population of close to 6 million.

While at the mall with my nephew, Tim, he was interested in getting ice cream; I was more interested in getting to the food court to see the latest food trends and to have something to eat, as it was almost noon. There were 40 plus eateries in the mall and I was looking for a quick bite and something different than the usual fare. We walked around several times and found several juice bars featuring iced tea, bubble tea, and blended fruits but we are not in mood for juice. Finally we came across some stations with everything from BBQ duck, noodles, and dumplings, to stir fry. It was so busy, people were everywhere and we tried to find a table first before we ordered.

We finally settled for a place called Shark’s Fin City and ordered beef brisket with steamed rice, and Tim ordered BBQ duck with steamed rice too. I simply love beef brisket with noodles – it makes a great snack. It took less than 5 minutes before my order arrived and it also came with a Coke for $5.50 plus tax. The food was good and hot, in a small 6” container, just right for lunch. We finished our food in very tight quarters and ate fast. We also had to share the table with two other people; we did not mind because as we were just glad to have somewhere to sit.

While we were eating we heard a big bang from a one of the noodle shops near us. We walked over and saw the owner Ken, using martial (as much as culinary) arts, in his made-to-order hand-pulled noodle demonstration at the front of the store. He slapped the dough, and pulled it along, yielding many delicate noodles. It was a unique form of art as much as an experience for the customers. I thought about inviting him to UMass for a demonstration. Sure, I wanted to try his fresh noodles but there was too long a line up to wait.

At last, at the insistence of Tim, we stopped by his favorite ice cream shop, Yutopia; it turned out to be a build-it-yourself, non-fat frozen yogurt, with fresh toppings. My nephew finally got what he craved and was very happy. I told him that he can come to UMass and have something like this daily.

The whole dining experience reminded me of my childhood, eating at a busy street corner in Hong Kong; only now the food is in smaller portions, much healthier. . . and only as far away as Canada.

This is Ken Toong and thank you for keeping UMass Dining at the top.

Ken Toong
Director

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

You can follow Ken Toong on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/KenToong

Dr. Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition, and chairman of the department of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health; set the tone of the conference by his opening remarks, that Americans face an epidemic of diet-linked adverse health conditions and chronic diseases, from obesity and type 2 diabetes, to heart disease and various cancers. It is vital to our nation’s public health that the foodservice industry accelerate current efforts to expand healthy menu choices. Although progress has been made especially in getting rid of transfat, we still have a long way to go in other areas. During the last several years, the conference focused on reducing portion sizes, promoting the consumption of the good carbohydrate such as whole grains, made the vegetables the center of the plate, encouraged sodium reduction and staying away from sugary beverages.

It was an action-packed conference that began in the morning and ran until the early evening. There were chef demonstrations, and workshop topics, that included inspiration for healthy menu development, panel discussions and presentations, from research scientists, on calories reduction, nutrition labeling, carbohydrate quality, and sodium and health. Since science is constantly evolving, each year we pick up new information and ideas from attending the conference.

Some of the take-home messages from this year’s conference:
1. Percentage of calories from fat is not important; diets high in fat do not appear to be the primary cause of the high prevalence of excess body fat in our society
2. When aiming to reduce calories, focus mainly on reducing refined starch and sugar
3. Importance of saturated fat has been overstated; reducing red meat is beneficial
4. Consume no more than 1500 mg of sodium ( 1 teaspoon) per day
5. Obtain sugar from natural sources (ie. fruit) and limit usage of concentrated sugar
6. New science study links sugary drinks to a higher rate of heart disease
7. Exercising one half an hour a day is important

On the last day of the conference, we all went into kitchen to prepare meals with 2 oz of protein per person. Let me tell you, the food was delicious and it was fun to use more vegetables and fruit-based recipes.

I encourage you to get onboard the train of healthy eating. It has already left the station; are you ready to come along?

This is Ken Toong and thank you for keeping UMass Dining at the top.

Ken Toong
Director

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

You can follow Ken Toong on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/KenToong

With over 14,000 students on the meal plan and being the third largest dining program in the country, we feel that food can play a vital role of supporting this lofty goal of climate neutrality on campus and we also want to take a national leadership role in doing so. We have a good baseline to work from but feel that there are so many opportunities for us to enhance our performance. We talked about growing organic food on campus, not just in the spring and summer, but throughout the year in a greenhouse, purchasing more food from student-run farms and increasing the percentage of local food purchases from 25% to 28% in the next two years. There were discussions about reducing and eliminating the use of water bottles on campus within 5 years or sooner. As the chair of the committee, I was most impressed with the passion and energy of the members. We know what we are doing now is just a beginning; to attain carbon neutrality is a mammoth task and will require everyone on campus to become involved.

One of the shining examples of efforts in sustainability for UMass Dining, was going trayless last September; it was a smooth transition and the majority of students overwhelmingly embraced the idea and were eager to take part. We had little opposition; every though students enjoy the convenience of using the trays, they were smart enough to know it was part of efforts to reduce food waste and to save water and reduce the use of chemical by not having to wash trays. Although we are still waiting for the outcome from the Waste Management Office, our preliminary results indicate food waste has decreased by 20%; this is significant considering we have close to 4 million visits at the DCs annually.

Another great example is what UMass Dining did last semester to reduce the greenhouse emissions, was to switch to using a prime vendor located in Springfield, which is only 25 minutes away, instead of using one that was an hour and half away in Connecticut – not to mention creating jobs locally, since we are the largest single customer in the Northeast for this company.

This semester we will be switching to compostable cutlery at all retail locations and promoting the use of reusable bags for the grab-and-go operations.

We know there is so much we can do to support the environment and with your help, we can accomplish some of the goals of achieving a greener UMass even faster. Please share your ideas with us on going green at UMass Dining.

This is Ken Toong and thank you for keeping UMass Dining at the top.

Ken Toong
Director

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

You can follow Ken Toong on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/KenToong

We are already working on the menu for the spring and will plan the weekly specials next. Our goal is to continue to improve and offer an even stronger dining program, with some surprises thrown in for excitement.

I will be home with my family to celebrate the holiday season; the tree is up and the house decorated. I will be the chief cook again and am still planning the menu. As Canadians, my family is thinking about having Traditional Turkey, but I always want to prepare something different. We will be joining two other families for dinner, so I might have to compromise and cook a turkey. But one thing for sure, is that I can always count on my daughters, to take charge when it comes to shopping, and for that I am lucky, as I am not much of a shopper.

It has been a great year for UMass Dining with double digit growth and highest customer rating during these economically challenging times. There are so many people to thank for to helping to make UMass Dining what it’s today. Our staff, our managers, other university departments, our supply chain vendors and also our customers; all work together to make things happen.

Cheers to all of you and your family.

This is Ken Toong and thank you for keeping UMass Dining at the top.

Ken Toong
Director

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

You can follow Ken Toong on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/KenToong

Let’s look at the three wishes:

1. All I want for Christmas is a dining commons somewhere in the middle of campus -
As you know we have the Campus Center and Whitmore in the center of the campus, both offering good food. The only challenge it that it is not an all-you-care-to-eat program such as at the DCs. We plan to renovate Franklin DC soon; if not this summer, then the following one. It will mirror Berkshire and be just as good. Worcester will also undergo a major renovation after Franklin. So watch out, both of them are located close to the center of the campus; however, in the near future, you could get a commuter meal plan, such as YCMP which will allow you to eat at either the DC or retail. What’s more, with YCMP, Friday night is free!

2. For Christmas this year, all I want is chicken fingers to be available all the time at every Dining Commons on Campus
Chicken fingers (tenders) are still one of the most popular items on the menu. We use the top-of-the-line chicken fingers and fry them in healthier omega 9 oil (the next generation of cooking oil – a zero trans-fat canola). We usually have them on the menu once a week or so. As with everything, moderation is the key; we will have chicken fingers on the menu once more this week, before we call it a semester. Too much of a good thing, might not be a good thing and could be boring. However, I will pass on your comments to the menu committee.

3. I would like plain bagels, white bread and less rye bread
Honesty, I prefer white bread and a plain bagel too sometimes. In my house, I would prefer Wonder bread over wholegrain, even if it sticks to the roof of your mouth. We know wholegrain bread is better for us, but perhaps we should have “Wonder bread” every now and them – as I said, moderation is the key.

Let me share my three holiday wishes -

1. that all UMass students will handle the stress of exams well and enjoy a nice peaceful holiday break
2. that UMass will be able to further weather the economic storm next year, thanks go an improving economy
3. and lastly, that UMass Dining will be on the list of the best campus food in the next Princeton Review (more on this later)

Good luck on your finals and happy holidays to everyone!

This is Ken Toong and thank you for keeping UMass Dining at the top.

Ken Toong
Director

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

You can follow Ken Toong on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/KenToong

At UMass Dining, we always try to pull a rabbit out of the hat to finish off the year. This one is no exception; there will be 4 upcoming specials in two weeks. We want you to have fun and have good memories of the food before the holidays. As you know, food is a great tool to build community and to help bring about calmness and reassurance during the exam period. Martha, our special events manager, has come up with several events that might blow your socks off. Several of us have had to pick up the slack while Martha has been recovering from surgery. Sometimes, you don’t know how much a person has worked or is missed until she/he is off for a while. The good news is Martha is back part time now and we will move ahead with the specials as planned.

1. Ultimate Chef Showdown December 9 at Berkshire DC 5-9 pm
This is a first for us and for any colleges to have 3 schools, plus UMass, join together for a culinary showdown as part of the Visiting College Chef Series. Billed as 16 dishes • 8 chefs • 4 schools • Southern soul food, Authentic Mexican dishes, Seafood cerviche and New England favorites will be served. It will be a food extravaganza night I don’t think you will want to miss.

2. Starry Starry Night December 10 at Franklin, Worcester and Hampshire 5-9 pm
To celebrate the season, we are featuring many local foods from free range turkey, and New England seafood, to many native vegetables and bread pudding from our own UMass bakeshop. It is all local fare at its best.

3. Midnight Buffet December 14 at all DCs, 9 to midnight
This annual exam treat time will feature many of your favorite late-night brunch items, plus healthy options such as fresh fruit, salad and low-calorie desserts

4. Extended Hours to 2:00 am at Worcester and Berkshire
You asked for it and you got it. Take a break from your studies or study at the DC; we will have many light foods to serve you, on top of great coffee and hot chocolate.

Afterall, this might just be the best time of the year.

This is Ken Toong and thank you for keeping UMass Dining at the top.

Ken Toong
Director

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

You can follow Ken Toong on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/KenToong