Several managers of UMass dining team and I headed to Dallas recently for the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) conference. We look forward to the annual conference for gathering information, learning from the peers, renewing friendships, and having fun. This year was not different.

My first lesson this trip was that everything really is bigger in Texas. It was my first time in the Dallas Fort Worth airport, which has five terminals, 155 gates, and covers more than 29.8 square miles—the size of Manhattan. I did not realize how big the airport was until I missed an exit on my way to the hotel. It took me 10 minutes just to find the next exit that would lead me out of the airport. The place is massive.

The host hotel for the conference, the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, was just as grand. It comprises three Texas-themed glass atriums, four-and-a-half acres of lush indoor gardens, and 1,500 rooms. Billed as the official hotel of the Dallas Cowboys, the magnificent Gaylord Texan pays tribute to everything Texas as only Texas can: on a big scale. One of managers told me later that it took him more than 15 minutes to get from the front desk to his room. (For the record, I did not stay there—it was just too big for me. I chose a smaller hotel with better room rates.)

During the conference, our sustainability specialist, Ryan, and I did a presentation on permaculture—regenerative eco-social land use. Ryan’s passion for promoting permaculture on campus is second to none, and the discussion was well received by conference attendees. He deserves a BIG, Texas-style thank you.

During the week, we were also invited to tour the Cowboys stadium. As some of you know, I am a big fan of the Cowboys, and I wouldn’t have missed the tour for anything. As our bus approached, we saw the massive structure come into view, as grand as it looks on TV. I cannot find words to describe the tour. The stadium was jaw dropping, and we saw almost all of it. I never thought that I would ever see the inside the Cowboys locker room—but we did. In the stadium, the giant TV monitor was 160 feet long—more than half a football field—and 72 feet high. It was just so amazing! (Welcome to Jerry’s world.) The details put into the stadium and the way it can transform to accommodate many kinds of events is truly genius. Even if you are not a Cowboys fan, the stadium is impressive.

We also met the executive chef of the stadium, who gave us the kitchen tour. The kitchen, with its bells and whistles, was very similar to our Berkshire DC  kitchen on the lower level: it was spic-and-span and full of equipment. I asked one of the servers how the food was. He said people come here for the game, but the food is fine. I tasted the mac &cheese, Caesar salad and chicken nuggets, and…hmm, I think the food is better at Berkshire.

But the amount of food that this stadium serves is outstanding. At the Super Bowl last February, the 100,000+ audience members consumed the following:

• 12 tons of nachos
• 8,000 pounds of hot dogs
• 5,000 pounds of popcorn
• 15,000 beef sliders
• More than 10,000 pieces of sushi
• 15,625 gallons of soda
• 8,000 gallons of water

In addition, 3,000 people worked concessions.

I asked the chef if he thought there would be a NFL season this year despite the lockout, which at the time was still going on during our tour. “Yes,” he said with a wide, Texan-style smile.

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

Last week, I attended the FARE (Foodservice at Retail Exchange) conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was hot, with temperatures soaring as high as 115F. The conference chair joked that the weather was ideal: the heat would keep us inside and away from the temptation to sightsee. I participated on a panel with peers from other segments of the foodservice industry. Our panel discussed everything from the changing consumer mindset, to the success of fast-casual restaurants and the growing interest in healthy eating. The session moved quickly as we shared our experiences—we offered a view from the street, so to speak. We also heard from experts from research firms NDP Group and Technomic, who presented market research on these trends.

My colleagues and I were not necessarily in agreement with the market research findings. For instance, one market research presenter said the recession was not yet over and predicted little growth for the next few years in the restaurant business. Because of the permanent change in the consumer mindset, the researcher indicated, foodservice operators needed to be creative and value-driven. Less than 10% of customers are looking for healthy options or are willing to pay more when they dine out, the market research indicated.

I beg to differ. I told the audience that most of our customers (ages 18-24) expect healthy options to be available. They want food that not only tastes good but also is good for them. Our students support sustainability, want high-quality food, and enjoy a variety of cuisines. I acknowledge that compared with traditional restaurants, we have not suffered in the same way during the recession. Our customers dine with us several times a day. We are their home away from home. and it is our job to provide our students with a positive dining experience.

These points were driven home when my daughter and I started our own mini-culinary tour of Arizona after the conference. My millennial daughter does not like fast-food restaurants. She looked up local restaurants on Yelp.com before we decided where to eat. Every place had to have a four-star Yelp rating (but guess who paid the bill?).

We tried two restaurants in Flagstaff and two in Scottsdale. The first was Los Altenos, a mom-and-pop place serving homemade Mexican food. In my daughter’s words, it was “a bit seedy inside, but the service was great and the food was tasty! There were big portions of food with an authentic Mexican feel to the place.” As for the value, I paid only $3.99 for soft tacos of rice and beans.

The second place we visited in Flagstaff was Pizza Furiosa. My pizza with pesto sauce and walnut was fresh and yummy. Not only did the chef-owner make everything from scratch, the service was also friendly.

Next one, we went to the ready to eat section of the Whole Foods Market in Paradise Valley, a small town in Maricopa County, Arizona. Wow, such a great place to pick up dinner or pick up stuff to make dinner. Everything looks fresh, colorful and the staff are friendly. I tasted the chilled mango soup, it was out of this world. It was fresh, healthy, vegetarian and the ginger gave you an extra kick.

The last place we tried was Pita Jungle in Scottsdale, which is part of a small, fast-casual Mediterranean chain based in Tempe, Arizona. The fattoush salad was huge; it could feed a small family. It was also a bit bland. There is probably no one on earth that would want to eat so many lentils during one meal. But the hot pita was fresh and good and price was great. For the two of us, the bill came to $28.

All four places shared something in common that can be summed up in three words: fresh, simple and flavorful. I intend to keep these attributes in mind when we start serving a new class of students at UMass Dining this fall.

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

We hosted the 17th annual Tastes of the World Chef Culinary Conference over a week ago, and I am still reflecting on what I learned. More than 200 participants joined us for what may have been our best conference yet. Sure, it took a lot of work to make it happen, but the time flew by. The conference started Sunday, yet before we knew it Friday, the final day, had come and gone. And we continue to receive complements from participants on how much they enjoyed the conference.

This year’s theme was Simple Food, Healthy Eating. We focused on ways to develop straightforward, flavorful menus that also leverage local, seasonal ingredients. The conference addressed ways to reduce processed-food use, preparation steps in the kitchens (while maintaining the consistency needed with volume cooking), and fuss when serving food to customers. In other words, we wanted to uncover tips on serving meals that are simple to prepare, simple to cook, simple to serve, and—most importantly—simply delicious.

Here, comments from a few presenters:

• Chef and author Joyce Goldstein kicked off the conference by talking about why she’s in favor of the USDA’s My Plate guidelines. She had been advocating for new guidelines to replace the food pyramid for the past three decades. If the My Plate suggestions are followed, they can lead us toward healthier menu planning, she said.
• When Chef John Ash asked delegates to pledge to reduce sodium content in the foods we serve, it was a defining moment of the conference. We all need to reduce sodium for our health.
• CEO Steve Sweeney requested that we take care of employees and stay thin. If we take care of our staff, our staff will take care of the business. As leaders, we also need to stay healthy and lead by example, he stressed.
• Former White House Chef Roland Mesnier encouraged us to exercise and to eat intelligently. It’s not about good food or bad food, he said, it’s about exercising.
• The Directors’ Roundtable urged chefs and dietitians to continue working together on developing healthier dishes.
• Chef Jet Tila spoke about ingredient diversity. There are so many good, different brands of soy sauce out there, he explained, that there’s no reason to limit ourselves to one brand.

More conference highlights:

We didn’t just talk about food; we also ate some terrific healthy options. Some examples: Chef Roberto Santibañez’s fruit salad with cucumber, Chef Mark Miller’s tamales, Chef Neela Paniz’s pan-fried fish, Chef John Ash’s tofu-egg salad, and Chef Chai Siriyarn’s rice noodles.

We also got cooking: Faculty members from Johnson & Wales University gave us a refresher course on the principles of simple, healthful cooking. Later, team competitions stressed the importance of working together, staying focused, and keeping things simple.

Even though the conference has come to an end, it’s clear that the train of simple food and healthy eating has left the station—and there’s no going back. We will continue to provide healthy food with good flavors for our customers.

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

I wrote this blog on my flight home from Chicago. As I’ve done in the past, I went to the Windy City to attend the National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show, the largest culinary food show in the United States. The NRA Show is a prime opportunity for vendors to introduce new products and services for the US restaurant and hospitality industry and for operators to build connections. This time, however, we also had another reason for making the trip: taking home a MenuMasters award from Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN), a weekly news magazine covering the restaurant industry.
The show and its events made the weekend action-packed like usual. So much to see, so little time. But the most excitement came Saturday night when the MenuMasters awards were presented at the famous Drake Hotel. We received the Best Menu Trendsetter award, and we were in good company. Other MenuMaster winners included Subway, Panda Express, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Old Chicago, and Shari’s.

At the event, each winner provided samples of dishes. To prepare for the event, our chefs Willie, Tony, and Simon arrived on Thursday to start cooking. On Saturday afternoon, some of our managers and I checked in on our kitchen team’s progress and made sure our stations were set up effectively. The Drake has a large, clean production area with modern equipment, a great place for our chefs to work.
To highlight our focus on sustainable seafood, we served shrimp and scallops with Thai green curry. We also carved a whole salmon, serving portions with chimichurri and a shredded mango salad. For dessert, we presented a choice between carrot cupcakes or tapioca pearls with palm sugar and coconut sauce. Essentially, we were showcasing the same food served on campus for industry colleagues. It was the perfect opportunity to tell the story that campus dining is not what it used to be. It’s much better—and healthier. That was also the theme of my acceptance speech.

I knew ahead of time that I needed to deliver an acceptance speech. I wrote one and practiced it several times at home. It was about five minutes log. An hour before the presentation, however, I realized I only had two minutes give my speech. Back to the drawing board! With the help of my wife, Pam, I quickly edited it down. When the big moment came and the presenters asked UMass to come on the stage, I jumped with excitement. Some of the management team joined me on stage, and the speech went off without a hitch. (You can read my speech below.)

What a great feeling to stand on stage and receive accolades from the organizers and peers! It was an extra thrill when celebrity chef Tom Colicchio, who received NRN’s Hall of Fame award that evening, referred to the dining program at UMass three times during his acceptance speech.

The guests enjoyed our food—with plates prepared to order, our station was one of the most popular. We were thrilled when Tom Colicchio and chef Paul Prudhomme stopped by to express their congratulations.

Even with these accolades, rest reassured that all of our work is not done. We will continue to look for ways to improve our program. Thank you for all of your support over the years to help us to get to where we are today.

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

My MenuMasters Award Speech:

It is a great honor for us to share the stage with our accomplished peers this evening. We represent college dining or the non-commercial segment. We are similar in some ways to restaurants and yet we are so different.

Let me share a few things about campus dining. First, it is not what it used to be. Campus dining has become more like fine dining, but we deal with the same customers several times a day—these students are tech-savvy and they are very diverse. They are time-stressed and want a variety of food concepts. Most of all, they want food that tastes good and is good for them. Our students want the best of things, since they are well informed. As an operator, you need to cater to their needs or you risk losing them, and you need to use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to build a connection with them.

Many of these students will become the future customers of restaurants.

We started the stealth health (Be Smart, Eat Smart and Live Smart) journey 5 years ago; I asked the managers to start a “small-plate, big-flavor program,” as well as reducing sodium by 30% , removing trans fat from baking and developing a program to promote healthy eating. It’s simple for me talk about it now, but it required lots of hard work and dedication by many — but it worked and that is why we are here today.

There are so many people to thank for this opportunity to come true! First of all though, I want to thank Greg Drescher of the CIA and Dr. Willet of Harvard School of Public Health who provided some of the initial inspiration; of course, I want to thank my management team, Diane, Chef Willie and other managers who took on the challenge, and many thanks to the editors of the Nation’s Restaurant News and Ventura Foods who recognized our program. And finally, I have to thank our 27,000 students for embracing the program at UMass — we couldn’t have done it without them!

Thank you all for this award.

After days of celebration, the 2011 undergraduate commencement is over. Now is a good time to reflect not only on this important moment but also what we accomplished during this school year—and how we can improve for the next.

For UMass Dining, commencement is more than a weekend event. It is a week-long occasion during which time we provide food for off-site events, galas, and functions at the University Club—in addition to serving regular meals at the dining commons. We did it all, starting with the Commencement Ball at the Mullins Center (hors d’oeuvres and desserts) and ending seven days later with Commencement.

This year was different from years past. Instead of the traditional Saturday morning ceremony, the undergraduate commencement ceremony at McGuirk Alumni Stadium was held Friday evening. On Saturday, the various schools and colleges on campus held smaller, more personal “recognition ceremonies,” in which graduates walked across the stage and received their degrees. So Friday night, UMass Dining had the opportunity to cater to 20,000 guests and 4,300 graduates. We took on the challenge as an opportunity.

As you can imagine, a lot of planning needed to happen to make sure food concessions at the stadium went smoothly. We met many times to discuss what kinds of food we should offer to the guests. Since the event occurred during dinner hours, we knew our customers would be stressed and hungry. The management team decided to offer a Commencement Pack with healthy, well-priced items: a hand-made ½ wrap, a General Mills granola bar, Cape Cod chips, Ocean Spray Craisins, and a beverage—all for $5.00. We also opened three dining commons to everyone and served enhanced menus. Our idea was that the pack would tide people over until they could head to the dining commons for dinner after the ceremony.

The undergraduate commencement ceremony went well. There was a big rush on the food lines before the event started. Afterwards, we served about 2,500 customers at the dining commons. When I arrived at the famed Berkshire DC, there were lines at each station. Our customers seemed to enjoy the food—and the live piano music.

Several parents came up to me and thanked us for taking care of their students for four years. One parent jokingly told me that he wished he could be a freshman again, just for the food. The students told us that they are going to miss UMass and the dining commons (affectionately known as the DC). I told graduates to visit anytime and to keep in touch. It’s gratifying that, on top of receiving a great education, the students truly enjoyed their dining experiences while at UMass.

As one senior wrote:

“Dining Services at UMass Amherst have been an invaluable asset to me in my time as a student here. One thing I greatly value about the DC is variety. Throughout my years in college, I have taken a vested interest in my health. I have become more active and as a result have started to eat healthier foods. For these reasons, and many others, I love the DC!”

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