FEATURES
4Fr' *«*>•*• s* 4
.*4? 9tffftx w ><> *
- <*
~ <V>'A r {*<*$}>.
W***’*.*/;
Thomas Patterson Emerald
John Beaver, who has worked with dining service since 1995, tries to add a personal touch to Carson Dining Hall, rather than having it he
‘an old-fashioned cafeteria where food is plopped on a plate.’
Grub
continued from page 1
most exciting parts of my job.”
Feeding more than 3,000 college
students three times a day takes pa
tience, organization and the ability
to handle pressure; cleaning up af
ter the 3,000 college students takes
even more patience. Heinonen is
just one of the 200 students who
work for the University of Oregon
Housing Dining Services. Many
students come to work for dining
services without any prior restau
rant experience, and they find their
jobs to be less stressful — and dirty
— than they first imagined.
University Dining Service
University of Oregon Housing
Dining Services runs seven differ
ent dining venues on campus.
These range from Pizanos Pizzeria,
where students can order their own
custom pizzas, to the Common
Grounds Cafe, a late-night place to
drink smoothies and specialty teas
and order hot sandwiches. Dining
services also provide two cafeterias,
one in Carson Hall and one in H.P.
Barnhart, where students get three
different entree choices in an all
you-can-eat arrangement.
“Because it offers so much flexibil
ity, there will always be a place for
' places like Carson,” Tom Driscoll, di
rector of food services, said, pointing
out that even when faced with choic
es, students choose to eat at the cafe
teria-style restaurants because they
offer a wide variety of food and are
open long hours. Carson and H.P.
Barnhart provide more than half the
meals students eat on campus.
Driscoll said the two cafeterias
feed between 700 and 900 people
a meal. Most of the people prepar
ing the food, working in the
kitchens, and serving the food are
students. Driscoll estimates that
nearly 200 students work for the
food service, and they also employ
75 full-time staffers.
“Students like working here be
cause it is very flexible,” he said.
Central Kitchen
The day at the Central Kitchen be
gins at 5:45 a.m. Bakers, cooks and
prep cooks start preparing for the
breakfast and lunch crowds across
campus. While each unit has its
own kitchen, Driscoll estimates that
almost three-quarters of the food
originates in the Central Kitchen.
“We feed a lot of people,” said
Christian Daugenti, a supervising
cook at Central Kitchen. Daugenti
said he has seen the kitchen be
come a lot busier in the three years
he’s worked there.
“We are adding a lot of new
things to the menu that are a lot
more labor-intensive,” he said. “In
the past, the cooks prepared much
of the menu with prepackaged
items Today, much of the food is
made from scratch.”
The Central Kitchen only deals
with large quantities. For a typical
brunch, staffers will make seven
gallons of quiche, between 20 to 25
loaves of bread, 80 gallons of ranch
dressing, 150 pounds of roasted red
potatoes and 25 gallons of maca
roni and cheese. On top of that,
each individual kitchen may make
seven to 10 gallons of eggs.
Thomas Patterson Emerald
Uneaten food is scraped from plates into a
water trough and flushed away.
Hold the cheese
Randy Campbell isn’t too fond of
the egg dishes. Campbell, a Lane
Community College computer
technology student, usually cleans
pots and pans in the Carson
kitchen. During a usual shift, he
may clean more than several hun
dred pots and pans. The pots and
pans come straight from the line
where students chose from eggs,
quiche, syrup and salads.
“Eggs aren’t as bad as enchi
ladas,” he said. “But anything with
cheese can get pretty bad.”
During his 10 months on the job,
Campbell has learned to locate the
dirtiest pans first and let them soak
in a tub. This will break down the
remains cooked to the pan.
“This one’s been soaking
awhile,” he said as he grabbed a
small hotel pan that once held
quiche. He scrubs the bottom and
sides of the pan, and the egg re
mains fall away. He then rinses the
small pan in two different rinse
tanks and places it on a stainless
steel rack to dry.
The line
After students pass the cashier,
they may pick up a blue tray, silver
ware, plates and napkins. They enter
a small room in the kitchen to choose
between three entrees, such as turkey,
broccoli pasta bean salad and Shoyu
chicken with pan fried noodles.
Dining room employee John
Beaver has been working for dining
services since 1995. During those
years, he has seen much more dedi
cation to improving food presenta
tion and the dining hall atmosphere.
“We are moving toward keeping
the food presentation up to date in
stead of being an old-fashioned
cafeteria where food is plopped
onto a plate,” Beaver said.
After grabbing their entrees, stu
dents re-enter the dining room. They
may head straight for two buffet lines
of salad fixings, bread and other hot
foods such as soups and vegetables.
Because of the wide variety of
food choices, Nick Lindauer likes
the pace of the work in the dining
room. Often rushing between the
dining hall and the kitchen, Lin
dauer makes sure the two buffet
lines are full.
“Out here, we’re busier than on
the line,” the junior said.
Last stop
After finishing their meals, stu
dents dump leftovers into large food
bins. Then they take their dirty dish
es to a dish pen to rinse them off and
place them on a moving tray.
“I am ‘Queen of the Dishes,’”
Jong Mun said as she inspects the
dishes after they travel through the
large washer. Mun and her partner,
Francesca Miller, inspect nearly
1,000 plates and cups for cleanli
ness, and proclaims most of them
come out quite clean.
While Mun said that most stu
dents are quite good about rinsing
their plates off, some leave their
dishes on the table.
“I am not too fond of the typical
Caucasian male college student who
drops his food all over the counter
and leaves his area very messy,”
Heinonen, the bouncer, said. She and
other dining room staff must clean up
the tables after these students.
‘Requiem for Lunch’
As the meal begins to wind down
and students start to thin out, the din
ing staff attempts to break down the
food lines and wipe up the tables.
Sweeping the dining area, Way
Ion Bryson said this slow time is
when he slowly drifts off to a hap
py place far from Carson. The fresh
man leans back against a table.
“This is when I sing the ‘Re
quiem for Lunch.’”
E-mail features editor John Liebhardt
atjohnliebhardt@dailyemerald.com
LOOK!
THERE'S STILL SPACE IN THESE CLASSES
REGISTER TODAY!
Feng Shui 1
May 1 &8 6:30-8:00pm
Beg. Printmaking i
May 5-19 12:30-2:30pm
Creative Bookbind
May 4&11 10:30a-1:30p
Devore’ Scarves
May 4&11 10:30a-1:30p
Sewing Zippers
May 5 5:00-8:00pm
Nui Shibori
May 5&12 12:30-4:30pm
Embroidery
May 12&19 5:00-8:00pm
Int. Basket Twining
May 19 12:30-4:30pm
Footstool Weaving
May 19 12:30-4:30pm
WP CR \ FT CENTER
for information call 346-4361
www.craftcenter.uoregon.edu
OFF
Any Yogurt*
(♦Except small
cones and times.
Expires 5/5/02)
Campus
SUBSHOP
Mon.-Sat. llam-8pm
Sun. 1 1:30am-8pm
1225 Alder
345-2434
Not valid with am other discounts or coupons.
()ne coupon per customer.
m
1 HOMEY HILL FARMS ,
Don’t Get Trapped In
A Small Apartment
• Basketball/Tennis Courts
• 1 & 2 Bedrooms
• Quiet & Large
• Low Energy Cost
• Air Conditioning
• Laundry Hookups
• Free Cable
• Balcony/Deck
Come check out our
great apartments!
McKenna
Estates
www.mckennaestates.com
342-5735
near Autzen Stadium