I just got back yesterday from attending the COEX2010- Chain Operators Exchange Conference in Orlando, hosted by the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association (IFMA) and chaired by Kevin Bechtel, Senior Vice President of Shari’s Management Corporation; the goal was to bring together the foodservice chain operators such as Bertucci’s, Red Lobster, and suppliers, with the theme for the conference “Customers Rule”. This was my first trip to this particular conference and I was joined by many of my peers from Berkeley, Vanderbilt and Iowa for a panel discussion, on the topic of Campus Dining: Tomorrow’s Customers Today. I was quite excited to be there for several reasons, to gather information on: the latest trends, consumer eating behaviors (a study from the industry experts), and insight on how the restaurant chains operate in menu development and innovation; in addition, to meeting supply chain partners. I was not disappointed except for the weather. It was cool (50 plus) by Florida standards; perhaps, it was a good thing because we had Disney distractions only minutes away.

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

Last Sunday, I was, just like many of you, glued to the TV for the men’s hockey game between USA and Canada. We all knew it was a big game for the both countries. Although it was just a preliminary match, this game took on all the importance of a medal game. Perhaps it was one of the biggest days for hockey since the US/Canada gold medal game, in 2002, in Salt Lake City.

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

This past Sunday, February 14, was Valentine’s Day and also the Chinese New Year. The day went down in the history as one of the most unique days to occur in this century. Since 1900, Valentine’s Day and the first day of the Chinese New Year have only coincided three times.

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

The Super Bowl is today and the sun is nice and bright, and yet I feel a bit of the winter blahs, since my favorite teams are not playing and it’s really pretty chilly outside. This is February, the shortest month of the year and yet seems to be the longest and some call it the cruelest time of the year. It’s a time that’s all about the cold weather and lack of day light. It’s always hard to get out of bed when it’s dark and cold outside. I never was a winter person, after living in Canada for 15 plus year, I should have nothing to complain about. My wife reminds me daily to just bundle up and enjoy the outdoors. I really don’t mind the cold weather, but the wind-chill does get to me; now I wear a hat and a scarf to keep me warm, and I am not complaining as much.

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