I hope you are enjoying the warm summer weather. For the last several weeks, I have been taking a break from the blog to enjoy the weather and spend time with my family. Even so, I missed not writing about UMass Dining. As we start up a new school year, I am eager to get back to it—especially because I have an amazing upcoming event to tell you about.

I love to compete. My staff knows it and my family knows it. For me, it is not only about winning: You win some and lose some, but it’s the effort alone that builds excitement and provides an opportunity for fun.

Even so, there’s nothing like taking home a prize. The competition that I’m about to tell you about has the makings of a historic event (we’ve already registered it with the World Records Academy). It’s the creation of the world’s longest California roll. We are aiming for 400 feet, which would surpass 330 feet, the record set by UC Berkeley in November 2009. And we’re doing it with sushi experts Jet Tila, a chef and expert in pan-Asian Cooking (he’s also appeared on the Food Network) and Hiroko Shimbo, a cookbook author and authority on Japanese cuisine.  So you can see that we are serious about it, but we can only get it done with your help!  (See details in the “recipe” below.)

UMass students love sushi. Each day, more than 2000 sushi rolls are served at our DCs. I would not be surprised if UMass students eat more sushi than any other school in the nation. At the very least, they’d be in the top 10. With this in mind, our motive for organizing the event is to build awareness around the subject of sustainability at UMass. To construct the roll, we will source sustainable seafood products and local vegetables. And we’ll do it at the Green Welcome Barbecue on Labor Day, an event for new students, staff, and guests that will draw 6,000-8,000 people.

So here it is: the recipe for the World’s Largest California Roll

Details:

The event will take place on September 6 starting at 4:45pm at the Haigis Mall – Fine Art area.

Yield: 400 feet of sushi

Ingredients:
650 sheets of nori (seaweed)
200 pounds of rice
200 pounds of surimi,
100 pounds of avocado
100 pounds of cucumber
2 pounds of sesame seeds
5 gallons of soy sauce
6 pounds of wasabi.

Instructions:

1. Find 300 volunteers from the UMass community to participate in the competition. (If you would like to join us, and I hope you will, please sign up at www.umassroll.com as soon as possible. Shish!…Wally the Green Monster will join us too. )

2. Roll the ingredients with volunteers, Jet Tila, and Hiroko Shimbo.

3. Make history happen.

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

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

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

With great food and great company, weddings are always happy occasions. Even so, they require a lot of planning, not only on the side of the hosts but also on the side of the guests. You have to remember to reply to the invitation, buy a gift, find something to wear, and sort out travel plans. You also have to be prepared for a few surprises along the way.

My wife and I were invited to attend a wedding reception in the Boston area for one of my former managers. Since both the bride and groom share Vietnamese decent, we were looking forward to a unique experience. We arrived promptly at 6:00 pm at the restaurant stated in the invitation card. Then we noticed that the place was quiet and the parking lot was nearly empty.

Fortunately, we quickly realized that we had found the right spot. Soon after arriving, we were greeted by the bridal party at the door. After having our picture taken with them, we found a place to sit. Later we were informed that in Vietnamese custom, a 6:00 reception actually means it will be 8:00 (at the earliest) before the dinner actually begins. One must wait patiently for all of the guests to arrive. Sure enough, others began to file into the restaurant, including quite a few from the Amherst area, many who are on staff at our DCs.

I noticed that Vietnamese wedding food is similar to Chinese wedding food. Many dishes evoked symbols of happiness and longevity. There were several seafood items best be described as Chinese-style food with a twist, resulting in well-presented dishes accompanied by uncomplicated, light sauces. Like Chinese culture, the number of courses was also significant. At a Chinese wedding banquet, eight dishes—not including dessert—are usually served for good luck. At the banquet, we had at least eight dishes, but I lost track of the final tally.

The banquet started with a plate of various meats and seafood (called a dragon-phoenix platter, pictured), including ham, barbecue pork, shrimp, and jellyfish. I especially enjoyed the pork, which was lean with a tangy sauce, and the pickled jellyfish, which had a unique taste and texture.

The next dish was a seafood soup. I don’t think it was a shark-fin soup, which is often served at Chinese special events as a sign of wealth. (That was fine with me— I am not a big fan of it now that I am aware of sustainability factors. I also find it rather tasteless.)

Next came lightly battered deep-fried lobsters served in pairs (pairs are a good thing to Asians). Instead of the lobster soaking in ginger sauce, which is common for similar Chinese-style dishes, the thin coating of sauce was very light and tasty. I almost forgot to mention the delicious shrimp dish, which was also lightly battered, fried, and served with candied nut clusters.

Pacific jumbo fresh oysters in the half shell were the next course to be served. The oysters were huge and steamed in a light soy sauce. It was a different taste experience from raw oysters.

We had several other seafood dishes, included scallops, squid and a whole steamed fish wrapped in a giant banana leaf. They were all good and very similar to Chinese dishes that I am familiar with, but I think they were even healthier than Chinese food because of their lightness.

The dessert was a type of sweet red bean soup.  This has always been one of my favorite desserts from the time I was a child. There were lotus seeds in the soup, a symbol that was meant, I think, to wish the newlyweds a hundred years of togetherness and a sweet life. It was an appropriate dish, I would say, to end the celebratory meal and to mark the beginning of the happy couple’s new life together.

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

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

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

Last Thursday, we celebrated the upcoming retirement of Ashoke, my boss and mentor for the past 11 years.  I found it hard to believe that this day was really here because the day I was hired Ashoke reminded me he would be retiring soon . . .  and eleven years later there we were. This is the only boss I have ever had that has retired. I am grateful he decided to stick around for as long as he did because Ashoke was just the kind of boss and leader that we needed to help us to get to where UMass Dining is today.

The retirement event was held by invitation only at Berkshire DC, where around 70 close friends and peers gathered. I think it was the kind of party that Ashoke approved of, something not too big, but more intimate, for those who worked with him closely.  UMass Catering did a great job with a several stations of food that were simple but elegantly presented. Over the years, Ashoke has been like a cheerleader for us on the sidelines, never wanting to be in the spotlight, never needing to claim any credit, instead he was one to remind us “it is all about team work”. When we started to win awards, he would always say, “that’s just fabulous. Let’s do it again.”

During the speech, Vice Chancellor Joyce Hatch mentioned Ashoke’s introduction to America with $10 in his pocket. That really struck a bell with me as I had a similar amount in my wallet when I first arrived in Canada from Hong Kong and when I told this to the audience they laughed saying but that was in Canadian funds (and not worth as much at the time); it was good to share a moment of laughter during this emotional event that marked a real milestone in Ashoke’s career.

Several speakers went up to the podium and thanked him for his leadership and said how honored they felt to have the chance to work for him and the university. Some even mentioned how being hired by Ashoke forever changed their career path for the better.

When it was my turn at the podium, somehow I was able to keep it together while praising Ashoke for his job well done! Here’s some of what I had to say:

“Ashoke hired me 11 years ago. He did not know what he was getting into then. He didn’t know too much about me with just my resume and several reference checks to go by – but he thought he had found the right person to just turn dining services into one of the best in the country.

He told me to take charge, to install the best practices and to raise the bar and to put our students first. Or as the saying goes “Just Do It”. He told me to never get too comfortable or complacent but to always continue to improve.

My boss, Ashoke, is very passionate when it comes to the topic of cleaning and sanitation. He always wants us to keep our floors as clean as Penske, that’s Penske as in the racing team, that has floors so clean that you can eat off them.

Let me tell you, Ashoke is first and foremost, very passionate about food and service; he wants things to be the best they can be, always taking small steps before a giant leap. He is well read about best business practices in the Fortune 500 companies, he adores GE, P&G, the history channel, and hopefully UMass Dining as well.

Under his leadership Auxiliary Services has won over 30 national awards in food and sanitation in the short span of the last 10 years and there will be more to come, in tribute to his legacy.”

Thanks Ashoke for believing in me; I will always treasure the great memories of our journey together at UMass Dining under your wise leadership. Everyone who has worked with you wishes you, Ashoke, and Georgina, your beautiful wife, a healthy and happy retirement. And if ever you get tired of eating at home, come and see us!

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

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

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

Last week, UMass Dining hosted the 16^th annual Tastes of the World Chef Culinary Conference here on campus. It was the largest turn out since its inception 16 years ago; close to 200 participants from 45 colleges and universities across the North America were present, including 12 Canadians. As you can imagine, we were busy with 26 guest presenters focusing on the theme “Home cooking from around the world”. The theme was timely as we are following the rustic movement of providing simple, natural and fresh foods to our customers. Some of the demonstrations by the chefs were outstanding, and the food was full of flavor. I tasted everything they made and then some more.

I mentioned in my opening address that it is hard to beat mom’s cooking and how many famed chefs or great cooks got their start by learning from parents, grandparents or other family members. It was fun to hear when one of the key presenters told us his mother was never a good cook but his father was much better. My own mom was never a great cook, but there was one dish she made well: breaded pork cutlets with marinated eggs – that is still one of my favorites. Too bad my mom doesn’t cook anymore – it is mostly restaurant or take-out food whenever I go to visit her. Many attendees told us how much they enjoyed the conference with its educational content and also the networking. One executive chef wrote “First of all as if you did not know my team really enjoyed our week in Amherst, we learned a lot and had a great time which made it very hard for any of us to leave.” I think after spending six long days together, we bonded and it was hard indeed to say good bye. I reminded everyone to take what they leaned this week and implement it at their colleges and to plan on coming back again next year. We do miss all of the chefs; they have a great passion for food and the industry, and even though we started early in the morning and some nights we finished quite late, no one complained.

On Friday, we culminated the conference with a team competition.  There were 15 teams from 18 colleges and universities across the nation and Canada that took part in the Category W Market Basket Competition for teams of four. The competition was sanctioned by the The American Culinary Federation (ACF). The first team started at 6:00 am and our own UMass Culinary team was one of the early starts. When I arrive at 10:00 am, our team was already finished. I went to see our executive chef Willie and asked how we were doing. He smiled and said we were ok. I sensed that we must be more than ok since Willie is a very cautious chef. When the head judge Noble announced the our status, I held my breath until I heard the word ‘gold’. The crowd let up a cheer and I got busy taking pictures. Golden moments like this are always satisfying. Congratulations to the UMass team of Chef Chi Cuong Huynh, Chef April Bent, Executive Chef Willie Sng (their coach and mentor), Chef Abigail LaPan, and Chef Anthony Jung. Congratulations to all who received a metal – you are all winners in my eyes and should be proud of your accomplishment.

I hope it was not too difficult a transition for all of the attendees to get back to “real” life again – I am still trying to catch up on sleep and get the grass cut properly. Have a great summer everyone!

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

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

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

Last week, I was in Chicago to attend the Nation Restaurant Show, billed as the largest single gathering of restaurant, foodservice and lodging professionals in the Western Hemisphere. I was looking for new food trends, and to gather new ideas; and I was on a panel with several of my colleagues representing the National Association of College and University, on the topic “Waste Stream Management: Best Practices for Reducing Front of the House Waste in Collegiate Foodservice Operations”. It went as well as expected and you know me, I would never pass up any chance to promote UMass Dining and share some of our best practices. I focused on the areas of going trayless and our “small plate, big flavor” program.

One of the highlights during the week was attending the Silver Plate Award Celebration. For 56 years, the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association (IFMA) has sponsored the Gold and Silver Plate Awards program. The awards continue to pay tribute to excellence by recognizing the most outstanding and innovative talents. From among nine winners of the Silver Plate, one is chosen by secret ballot to receive the industry’s most coveted recognition, the IFMA Gold Plate. It’s like Oscar in our food service to recognize the best of the best in the industry.

Tim Dietzler, my peer and friend at Villanova University was one of the winners of a Silver Plate for the college and university category. I was so happy for Tim, not only does he manage a great food service program, he is a highly respected professional in the industry for his dedication and innovation for food and services. One of our family friends’son is studying at Villanova and has mentioned to us several times how good the food is. Tim also sent his chefs a couple of times to UMass as part of the Visiting College Chef Series. We have a great relationship with Villanova.

On the night of the presentation, Tim asked me to join his management team for the Villanova table; I was honored to be part of it all and I also volunteered to be a photographer. I also wished him the best of luck for the secret ballot selection. I met his supervisors and management team during the photo session, and let me tell you, they are professional, humble and the nicest people that you would want to know.
I was busy taking numerous pictures during the celebration and sat next to his assistant at the table. I asked her whether or not Tim had an acceptance speech ready just in case, she said no because he did not expect to win Gold.

Then came to the announcement of the Gold Plate winner after dessert; it was the final moment of truth. We all had high hopes for Tim, when the chair announced someone from the Wildcats struck gold, we knew it was Tim. The 500 some crowd cheered at the announcement. Tim is the first college & university operator to win a Gold Plate since IFMA switched from a single award to multiple silver plate categories in 1968.
With tears in his eyes, Tim accepted the award and attributed his accomplishment to his staff, his team at Villanova and his family. It was a golden moment to all of us and I felt fortunate to be there. Way to go Tim!

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

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

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