Week 3 at Rutgers University: Coffee, Raw Meat, and Markets!

We started off the week with a rotation at Starbucks! With our Starbucks apron, we were all set to learn about their daily operations. Tiffany, the manager, made multiple cups of coffee, espressos, lattes, and frappuccinos for us to try. Needless to say, we were very well caffeinated. Dennise and I had never had coffee before, so we did a coffee tasting where we paired coffee with different types of food. It was so interesting to see the difference that correct food pairing makes! We tried the Veranda light roast coffee with a dark chocolate chip cookie and it was delicious!

Left to right: Tiffany (manager), Kristin, Denisse, and Glenn (DH supervisor)

Tiffany making us cups and cups of espresso.

Their most popular product, the green tea frapp!

In the afternoon, we moved to Kilmer’s Market to meet with Nick, the manager. Kilmer’s Market started off to be an all-organic market for students; however, over time, it’s been introducing a variety of products. It even features a deli and bagel baking station.

Us with Nick, the manager of Kilmer's Market.

Tuesday was the day we ate raw meat. Yes, you read right. We traveled for a field trip to Vrola Meats today. Vrola Meats is Rutger’s main vendor for meats. We saw everything from the whole piglet hanging from the ceiling on hooks ( :( ) to freshly made primal cuts. Joe, the manager of Vrola meats, gave us a tour of the facility, allowing us to touch the dry-aged meat and freshly cut meat as we went along. When we got to the cutting station, he pulled chunks of raw meat from the cutting table and handed it to us to try. The texture was like that of sashimi, but I think I might still prefer raw fish over raw meat, haha. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed in the factory, so we don’t have any photos to document our field trip.

On Wednesday, we went to Woody’s Cafe, a cash operation located within a medical building. Jim and Ben, the managers, had us experience being on the food service line. We helped prep ingredients for the deli and when lunch hour came, we were swarmed with customers. It was quite fun being able to serve and cook food to sell for customers, but it was also very fast-pace and challenging. Since we didn’t take down orders, we really had to remember every individual’s order and requests.

In the meantime, we got to try Livingston Dining Hall. Livingston is the newest dining hall and it featured so much fresh fruit! I really liked the open atmosphere and modern appearance of the dining hall as well. (Fun fact: did you know that Rutgers has its own breed of tomatoes? It’s called Rutgers 250 apparently. How cool!)

Livingston Dining Hall

Just a few from the large selection of fresh fruits that they offered! Love fruit!!

On Thursday, we met with Jenny and Heather, the catering managers. We got to see the challenges of creating a server and driving schedule for catering services and got a look at a sample of a catering event. One of our projects this summer is to create a farewell luncheon, so Denisse and I got a preview of the type of props we can use for our event. Next week we’ll be going to Hobby Lobby, a large craft store, to pick up some of the decorations we want to use. We already have some ideas for the theme of our event, but it’s going to be a surprise! ;)

We went to another cash operation within a medical facility on Friday. This time, it was in the University Behavioral Health Care Clinical Foodservice Management center. Since the customers were mostly inpatient and outpatient customers, they had a different system for making and delivering meals. Patients would receive a menu a day in advance, fill it out, and give it to the kitchen so that all the meals are prepped ahead of time. During lunch hour, they would come down to pick up and eat their meals. Denisse and I shadowed Kathy, the assistant manager, and Karen, the dietetic technician, and helped correct the menus that patients filled out.

And of course, our week wouldn’t be complete without another visit to the city. I’m still in awe of the beauty of the city. We’ll be back in a couple days with our preceptors to attend the Fancy Food show at NYC (can’t wait!!). But for now, that wraps up another fantastic week here at Rutgers!