nourishment. community. lifelong memories. · yale catering regularly wins awards from the food...

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Yale Hospitality annual report 2015-2016

Nourishment. Community. Lifelong Memories.


“Since my early days here as a graduate student, I have eaten more meals on Yale’s campus than probably anywhere else in the world.

Yale Hospitality goes above and beyond in keeping me—and all our campus—fed and healthy, while pleasing our taste buds and impressing our visitors and guests with its gourmet flair.”

Peter SaloveyPresident and Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology

Cover Image:A short respite before lunch in Timothy Dwight courtyard

Photo: Yale University,Michael Marsland


Yale Hospitality’s mission is to nourish a culture in which the interwoven pleasures of growing, cooking and sharing food become an integral and memorable part of the Yale experience for students, visitors and the broader campus and regional community.


Coffee, fruit and hot oatmeal before first class on a snowy January morning…Founder’s Day, welcoming thousands to the Yale campus...Brainstorming over lunch at Charley’s Place…a Head of College Tea with Danny Meyer…Having a meal with old friends during a long alumni weekend…

Shared food and the memories it creates are woven throughout the fabric of Yale’s campus life, one reason our Hospitality team likes to think that we are “architects of memories.” In many ways, our hospitality work is about creating opportunities—sparks—which kindle enduring relationships and experiences that unite different cultures, genders and intellectual curiosities.

Our dining halls are at the heart of a college experience that is second to none and are a welcoming hub for first-year students. Our retail venues serve as community gathering places for all students and as comfortable spaces for alumni who return to campus for special events. The Yale Hospitality team has a genuine care for students and works hard to create this culture of home-away-from-home. Their energy is fueled by a passion for this work and a shared desire to enhance the world-class reputation of Yale. A desire for excellence is woven into everything we do here.

Over the past year, we’ve expanded our most popular community events, like the Sustainability Farm Tours and Final Cut culinary competition. Yale Hospitality catering services are reaching new heights for food and service quality, value and convenience. And our campus-wide team has worked to improve departmental efficiency, student satisfaction and our commitment to the New Haven community.

Beyond the campus, our programs for sustainability, culinary innovation and healthful dining have been nationally recognized. As we seek to demonstrate leadership in our industry, we also strive for best practice procurement policy, cost management, and a commitment to goals such as sustainability. But most importantly, we look to spark memories of the Yale experience in ways that will make those memories last a lifetime.

Yale Hospitality has a story to tell, and a responsibility to give credit to the dedicated team of more than 800 people who make its programs the success that they are. This report is our way of telling you who we are, what we do and where we’re going.

—Rafi Taherian Associate Vice President, Yale Hospitality

“…from a little spark may burst a flame.” —Dante


Branford College and Harkness Tower

Photo:Yale University,Michael Marsland

Yale Hospitality engages and connects with nearly all of the university’s key constituencies serving delicious and healthy food to students, alumni, faculty and employees as well as the larger New Haven community in our catering operation in on campus venues. We are very proud of their work. —Bruce Alexander Vice President for New Haven and State Affairs and Campus Development


Yale Hospitality is a complex organization that employs hundreds of people and has many “moving parts.” It has three core programs: residential student dining, campus-wide auxiliary operations, and catering and event services.

Yale Dining is a tradition that goes back to the school’s founding, with dining programs that provide students with a sense of community which is integral to the undergraduate experience. Today it emphasizes contemporary global cuisine, food literacy and wellness dining trends.

Auxiliary Operations extend the same commitment to culinary excellence to Yale’s faculty, staff, visitors and off-campus students. Conveniently-located retail operations range from coffee shops to c-stores to casual dining locations.

Yale Catering regularly wins awards from the food service industry and accolades from campus event managers. It offers extensive event and hospitality management services and last year supported over 2,000 events, ranging from small, in-house meetings to weddings to large conferences. It is key to Yale’s ability to execute best-in-class events.

Some Highlights from these programs in 2015-16 appear on the following pages:

Our Focus

The International Fall Fest is an annual community event that attracts the full spectrum of the

Yale community.

Yale is a Community, one that crosses graduating classes and backgrounds. It is based on shared experiences and relationships that we nurture in our college dining halls and cafés, in our catered events and in our special gatherings. We seek to always remember that Yale Hospitality

is often the face of our community to those who visit, reside or associate with the University.


Students leaving a concert at Sprague Hall are only a short walk from two late night retail dining locations. Photo:

Yale University,Michael Marsland


Most students know Yale Dining as the in-house provider of meals at the 13 campus dining halls. We serve thousands of such meals each day and seek to keep them fresh and varied, with seasonal menus, concepts like last year’s “Street Foods” offerings, and surprise “pop-up” events at meal times.

Beyond that, Yale Dining is also responsible for countless large and small events and student engagement initiatives over the course of every year. We collaborate with Deans, Heads of College, the Yale College Council and other campus constituencies to produce many of these. They range from intimate Head of College Teas to campus-wide events that serve meals to thousands.

Longer term planning is also key. We are well along with preparations to support the historic opening of two new residence halls on campus and plans to create state-of-the-art dining venues that match the quality of the facilities.

Looking back over the past year, some of Yale Dining’s more notable events included:

• Our popular Sustainability Farm Tours, which each fall introduce hundreds of students to our sustainability program with entertaining and educational day trips to visit local farms, orchards, processors and supply chain operations.

Yale Dining

• The annual International Fall Fest, where 5,000 undergraduate students, Deans and Heads of College joined in the annual community-building event on Old Campus.

• Guest Chef programs that bring nationally-recognized chefs to campus for cooking demonstrations to teach food and culinary literacy. Last year’s programs included Chefs Cal Peternell, Ken Gladyz and Antonio Morales from Chez Panisse, the Hershey Hotel and Tecnologico de Monterrey.

• The Chili & Chowder Cookoff, a fundraising competition among departments. Last year this campus-wide event attracted 500 attendees and raised over $12,000 for the New Haven United Way campaign.

• A series of four Reality Bites educational seminars for 400 seniors to help prepare them for independent life beyond college.

• The Final Cut competition, in which dozens of students competed in culinary heats, culminating in an on-stage event attended by more than 3,500. • 13 Alumni Reunions that brought over 8,000 alumni back to the campus and gave residence hall dining staff a chance to showcase their skills.

It is not enough to offer healthful food…it also must be food that students and visitors want. It means combining nutritious ingredients with culinary excellence, borrowing from global food traditions that span cultures and presenting meals in ways that make it easy to make the right

choices and take the right portions… Food nourishes the body but it can also nourish the mind…


Memories from 2015-2016 (clockwise from top left): Catered delicacies at Founder’s Day; the Chili and Chowder Cookoff; food samples at a Foodie event; plating food in the Final Cut; an Alumni Reunion; New Haven United Way accepting a $12,000 donation at the Chili and Chowder Cookoff; students learning about culinary traditions at a Foodie event; uncommon, the local farmer’s market organized by Yale Hospitality; students on a Sustainability Farm Tour; costumed student at Final Cut. (Center): Yale President Peter Salovey poses for a selfie with Final Cut competitors.

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expanded with signature items that broadly reflect international cuisines and cultures.

Many other retail menus also received an upgrade last year. At the space-challenged West Campus location, we designed a vertical salad bar, a real innovation in campus dining. We also put a greater emphasis on better-for-you choices at Durfee’s and expanded lunch options at the Health Center Café and the Thain Family Café.

On the operational side, Charley’s Place experimented with self-checkout options, testing this approach for other locations in the future. Operations at the new Culinary Support Center and Yale Bakery continued to expand in terms of capability and culinary innovation. Last year these efforts earned its production team Yale’s prestigious Linda Lorimer Award for Distinguished Service.

Over the coming year, Hospitality Services will plan and open two new retail locations. One concept will be located near the Peabody Museum; the other will be by the new residence halls near Science Hill.

Worth noting: all of our construction projects are managed in-house, from concept development to completion, a testament to the significant project management skills of the Hospitality group.

Yale Hospitality’s Auxiliary operations extend our commitment to culinary excellence and service to the much broader swath of faculty, staff, visitors and off-campus students.

With 12 conveniently-located retail operations, quality food and dining options are available in every corner of the campus. We are in the process of making each retail venue a destination in its own right, with dedicated menu items that uniquely “brand” that location.

Fall of 2015 saw the opening of Café Med, located in the new Medical School building. With a menu focused on health and wellness, it serves customizable offerings based on a plant-based Mediterranean Diet, bold flavors and “mobile” selections packaged for those who are on the go.

Café Med’s success followed the recent renovation or new construction of three other retail dining locations. One effort involved a major refresh of the KBT Café on Science Hill, adding new comfort foods and hydration beverages.

Another initiative re-imagined the offerings at The Divinity School’s Refectory to better meet a contemporary need for fresh, trendy and mobile cuisine. In the third, the menu of Charley’s Place at the Yale School of Management was

Yale Auxiliaries

Retail venues help us host a continuing array of students, employees, alumni and visitors. They extend student dining opportunities beyond the residence halls

and help serve the specific needs of internal clients like the Schools of Medicine, Divinity, Engineering and Management. All the while, they support our efforts to nourish the Yale

community and have a positive impact on our environment.


The KBT Café on Science Hill has become a branded destination on the Yale campus.


Over the past eight years, Catering has sought to continuously raise the bar on food, menus, service quality and capabilities. Today we can boast a best-of-class operation that’s won repeated accolades from campus clients and outside organizations.

Last year we focused on improvements to enhance service, value and convenience. This included a variety of large event “packages” to help planners organize events more quickly and conveniently. Our expanded capabilities now offer a one-stop shop for a full range of needs, from equipment rental and menu development to printing, floral arrangements and audio-visual services.

We began offering a series of all-day meeting packages that simplify conference planning and a new set of changing seasonal menus. These feature trendy meal items that emphasize sustainability, freshness, global flavor profiles and authentic cuisine.

We enhanced our Catering Express system to offer value-oriented breakfast and lunch packages that better meet the needs of small meeting planners on a budget. We also transitioned to fully compostable platters, bowls and serving utensils to increase the sustainability of drop-off events.

Many of our catered events are customized for specific needs, such as high-profile senior staff

Yale Catering

recognition events. We also manage a large number of campus-wide affairs. Some of these included:

• The top-drawer Sterling Fellows Dinner for hundreds of the university’s largest benefactors.

• The annual Founder’s Day Celebration, bringing together more than 3,500 attendees from our campus, community and alumni constituencies.

• The Employees Day gala for 3,000, to celebrate the contributions of the Yale work force.

• Yale Hospitality’s support for the President’s Global Constitutionalism Symposium held at the President’s House and Yale Law School.

• Several UN Global Colloquium events related to cultural preservation that included honored guests such as Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and Presidents from over 15 top world universities.

• The university-wide Long Service Awards gala honoring staff with more than 25 years of service.

• Two tailgate parties at the biennial Yale-Harvard football game, one for over 5,000 students and one for the Yale Bowl VIP box.

Yale events are personalized to provide guest experiences that match the vision of each discriminating campus client. Our hospitality event managers are idea people who work with

clients to customize décor, lighting, mood and ambience so that they meet the goalsof each event, whether academic, social or cultural. Meticulous attention to detail

and a commitment to collaboration are key.


The historic Commons Dining Room at Schwarzman Center is the site of

many catered events where service excellence plays a key role.


Yale Hospitality supports many other internal initiatives that involve project teams from across the organization. Among them:

Sustainability. Our Sustainability program continues to be a model for many other universities. In 2015-2016 we improved its local sourcing, waste reduction and supply chain efficiencies and refined our purchasing commitments to better support local farmers. Internally, we educate our managers about our strategic sourcing initiatives to help them respond to student concerns about sustainability.

Food R&D Initiatives. Collaborating on food-related research is an important goal for the group. It helps advance the industry’s knowledge base, supports Yale student and department projects and in some cases also enhances supplier relationships. Last year:

• We partnered with the Yale School of Public Health to test the market factors that have the biggest impact on consumers when they have a choice of more healthful snacking options.

• We worked with student groups to test more effective ways to provide information to students to positively influence recycling behavior.

• We partnered with the School of Management on a Google project testing the factors most likely to influence a student’s vegetable choices.

Other Yale Hospitality Initiatives

Telling Our Story. Yale Hospitality launched a completely redesigned website that highlights the university’s residential college facilities and dining programs. Its 41,000 unique users generated over 256,000 page views between May and August.

Culinary Development. Our culinary development activities support other initiatives such as food sustainability, healthfulness and quality assurance. Culinary training also seeks to offer staff continuing professional development opportunities. Some other initiatives:

• Culinary staff worked with residential and auxiliary personnel on recipes for Café Med, the Street Foods program, the Culinary Support Center and Yale’s Plant-Based Protein and Salt-Reduction initiatives.

• Culinary support for student enrichment activities such as the Yale Food Literacy program, the Guest Chef series, farm tours, the Reality Bites program, and “Foodie” lectures for residential Heads of College.

• We represented Yale Hospitality at national organizations that include the Culinary Institute of America’s Menus of Change Research Collaborative, the True Health Initiative, the National Association of College and University Food Services and the Cancer Nutrition Consortium.

Yale Hospitality’s goals and activities are wide-ranging and often are cross-functional. Many also involve external engagements and demonstrate Yale’s leadership to

the food industry. More importantly, they are the result of a team effort that involves more than 800 culinary staff, supervisors, managers and directors.


12 % reduction in sodium content of Yale Dining food last year

85 % of residential dining meal items that are plant-based

13 % reduction in beef purchases over past 12 months

53 % of purchases that are sustainable

25 % of purchases sourced regionally

23 % increase in purchased beans and legumes over past 12 months

14 % of purchases from Connecticut

50.8 % reduction in chemical package waste since 2014

47.6 % reduction in dish detergent usage since 2014

20 % increase in produce usage since 2014

100 % of beef served that is grass fed

100 % of chicken served antibiotic-free

Key Facts and Figures

2,000,000 Dining Transactions in 2015-16

14,000 Meals served daily

13 Dining Halls

12 Retail Locations

144 Vending machines

1 Culinary Support Center, including Yale Bakery, Cold Food and Catering production

2,000+ Special Events in past year

320,000 Summer Program Meals in 2016

750,000 Retail transactions this year

3,000 Number of attendees served at Yale’s Founder Day celebration

40 Hosted/Catered events daily

400+ Number of Student Farm Tour participants in 2015-2016

68 No. of Yale Hospitality employees with more than 20 years tenure

194 % increase in Catering revenue over the past eight years


INDUSTRY/NATIONAL/UNIVERSITY AWARDS

2016 IFMA Silver and Gold Plate AwardsRafi Taherian, Associate Vice PresidentThe IFMA Silver Plate Award recognizes Yale as having the top operation in the college segment. The Gold Plate is considered the top award in food service. Past winners include luminaries like former Marriott CEO Bill Marriott and Windows of the World founder Joseph Baum.

2016 NACUFS Horton AwardYale Catering, LKL CelebrationGiven by the National Association of College and University Food Services, this award recognizes Yale Catering’s commitment to excellence.

2016 FARE AwardRafi Taherian, Associate Vice PresidentFARE unites the top players in presenting critical insights and best practices in resolving challenges and exploiting opportunities in every quadrant.

2016 Gold Medal, ACF, NACUFS First PlaceJosh Fontaine, Chef, BerkeleyThe National Association of College and University Food Services recognizes outstanding flavor, food preparation and presentation skills in the national competition each year.

2016 Elm-Ivy AwardRafi Taherian, Associate Vice PresidentThe Elm-Ivy Awards honor people whose efforts support the collaboration of the university with its hometown. Elm Awards are given to members of the broader New Haven community and Ivy Awards are given to Yale faculty, staff, and students.

2015 Gold Medal, ACF, NACUFS First PlaceVince Gustavson, Chef, BerkeleyThe National Association of College and University Food Services recognizes outstanding flavor, food preparation and presentation skills in the national competition each year.

2015 Yale University’s Linda Lorimer AwardYale Bakery - Keri Logan, Edna Betzner, Gary Gulino, Joseph Hamilton, Pedro Rivera, and Rhonda MyerThe Lorimer Award is presented by Yale University each year for distinguished service to Yale.

Recognition

D E P A RT M E N TA L A W A R D S

Director of the Year Dana Courtney Director, Finance

Excellence in Budget John Buckand Finance General Manager, Silliman

Manager of the Year Rashmi Nath General Manager, Jonathan Edwards

Manager of the Year Julie Carrion Manager, SOM

Culinarian of the Year Dave Kuzma Executive Chef, SOM

Above & Beyond Awards Emily Borders Manager, Yale Catering

Mark Lacy Manager, Jonathan Edwards

Innovator of the Year Donna Hall Manager, Yale Auxiliaries

Commitment to Excellence Bettye Jo Mackiewicz Manager, Yale Auxiliaries

Rising Star Awards Christina Wethington General. Manager, Trumbull

Alicia Carney Manager, Yale Catering

Dining Ambassador Pedro Telloof the Year Conference Dining and Special Events Manager

Black Linen Awards Carlena Lee Yale Catering

Joshua Fontaine Berkeley College

Monica Clark Culinary Support Center

Mya Shanell Watts Culinary Support Center

Marinda Godfrey Culinary Support Center

The Yale Hospitality team has been recognized nationally for its high standards, quality and innovation. These qualities were underscored when it received the food service industry’s highest honor, the Gold Plate Award, in May. Yale Hospitality is proud to note other individual and team recognitions over 2015-2016:

Cyril Ortigosa-LiazSOM, Yale Auxiliaries

Chris JamilkowskiWest Campus, Yale Auxiliaries

Brandon YoungCommons at Schwarzman Ctr.

Phil PervisJonathan Edwards College


Saybrook CourtyardPhoto: Yale University,Michael Marsland

Looking AheadYale Hospitality has a variety of new initiatives planned for 2016-2017. Some of these are expansions of existing programs and others will break new ground.


Transformation of Commons into the Schwarzman Center

The dramatic transformation of the historical Commons dining facility into the new Schwarzman Center has entailed significant planning to re-imagine the way Schwarzman Center dining can support the center’s role as a cultural and artistic hub for students.

New Venues

Much effort will be put into our support of the design team for both the renovated Schwarzman facilities and the two, soon-to-be-finished residential colleges. The latter will feature exhibition-cooking capabilities that provide students with more meal customization. Two new retail concepts are also being planned for that part of campus.

Yale Food Literacy We plan to continue our Yale Food Literacy initiatives under a conceptual umbrella known as Food Conversations. It will engage students in educational programs that explore food issues of importance to society and increase awareness of the impact food systems have on the consumer and business environments.

L O O K I N G A H E A D . . .


Food R&D

Another major effort will be to expand upon our efforts to partner with both on-campus and outside organizations on research related to plant-based protein alternatives, as well as focusing on reducing consumption of animal-based protein. We will continue working with industry partners to find new ways to reduce or recycle agricultural food waste and plan to demonstrate new waste reduction strategies in an initiative with Silicon Valley companies.

Food Waste Reduction Next year, major initiative will be to expand our emphasis on driving greater efficiencies in the food supply and consumption chain. Our past efforts have focused on sustainable sourcing and procurement practices. Next year we will turn also to pre- and post-consumer waste issues, looking to develop best practices for reducing food waste in our operations and in educational initiatives that encourage students to consider such issues in their lives as future consumers.

Support for the Community In support of the Greater New Haven United Way, we plan to expand our annual Chili and Chowder Cookoff, where culinary talent from campus and community compete for the champions title. We will also strengthen our relationship with the New Haven Soup Kitchens and plan to expand our support for them in the coming year with a fundraising “Soup Night” at the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen.

L O O K I N G A H E A D . . .


Dean Jonathan Holloway steals a moment at the Final Cut.Photo: Yale University,Michael Marsland


Voices of the Community“Final Cut” is one of my favorite nights of the year. I not only get to don my personalized chef’s jacket, but also get to hang out with two of the best food emcees in the business, Alicia Lovelace ’17 and Rafi Bildner ’16. Their banter and the amazing dishes prepared by the talented student-chefs in the residential colleges showcase the breadth of Yalies’ talents.”

—Jonathan Holloway (GRD, 1995) Dean of Yale College and Edmund S. Morgan Professor of African American Studies, History, and American Studies

“I want to tell you how impressed I was with our event at West Campus. The menu items were perfect, the set-up flawless, and the staff was extremely professional. You can bet I will be calling on you a great deal in the future.”

—Anne R. Jones Director of Special Events, Yale School of Medicine Office of Development

“I wanted to extend my thanks to you and your amazing Catering team. Our event was a hit, and I am hearing rave reviews this morning about the impressive food and wonderful atmosphere. You really refreshed this event for us, and I know it wouldn’t have been as successful if it weren’t for your creativity, genuine care for our concerns, and incredible attention to detail.”

—Bliss Bernarda Yale University Office of Public Affairs & Communications (OPAC)

“I went to The Final Cut last night and it was awesome! Thank you so, so, so much. These things really show that you go above and beyond, and the dinner event made my whole week!”

—Anonymous Student Ezra Stiles College, 2016

“I enjoy working here at Timothy Dwight. Every day something is changing and it is always a learning experience. We have our ups and downs, but I can’t complain—I feel this is my family.”

—Sharon, an employee at Timothy Dwight college


Administrative Offices246 Church Street,Suite 400,New Haven, CT 06520204-432-0420

hospitality.yale.edu

nourishment. community. lifelong memories. · yale catering regularly wins awards from the food...

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