Week 4 at UConn!!

On Tuesday this week we worked front of house at Chuck and Augie’s! We got to work with Jen Lyder and Chaz Griffin, Assistant Manager. We began our day by preparing the dining room for opening. We swept the floors, wiped down tables and counters, and rolled some silverware. We also spruced up some beautiful floral arrangements on the tables! We had a little extra time so Jen showed us how she forecasts for other places in USM as well as Chuck and Augie’s. It was neat to learn how Chuck and Augie’s computer system links up with FoodPro. When a waitress enters in a specific meal to the system, FoodPro automatically picks up on the components of the meal and knows what to order. We are learning that FoodPro is a versatile system.

Once Chuck and Augie’s opened at 11am, Mariel did expediting in the kitchen and I was the hostess out front.

Mariel: “Jen showed me the ropes of expediting. She showed me how to keep an eye on the flow from the kitchen to the dining room. I did a few things on my end before passing food along to the servers, like setting aside C&A’s tasty maple dipping sauce and topping their Pistachio Chicken Salad with pistachios. I also checked that the food coming from the kitchen matched what was ordered. At one point, I even reminded Chef Tyler to pass over his copy of a receipt so I could clear an order from the window and he high-fived me for staying on top of things!”

Abby: “I greeted guests as they came in and seated them. Next, I assigned their table number to a waitress and alerted the waitress that they had a new table. This was tricky until I learned which tables were which. Reading a diagram of the room is different from what you see in the room. I was always nervous that I was seating them in the wrong table! I don’t think I seated anyone in the wrong area so overall I think I did well!”

Before we left for the day we had some amazing food (Thanks again Chefs!). Their sweet potato fries are to die for! We are sad that we aren’t working there again but we will stop by to visit!

On Wednesday we got to go and harvest some veggies at the student farm. We first met Tushar Gaddi who is a junior at UConn. We helped him prep the washing station to wash the lettuce we were going to pick. We learned that there are lots of different buckets and rinses involved in washing farm vegetables. Once the farm manager, Julia Cartabiano, and Haley Brennan, a student worker, arrived we began to pick lettuce. We ended up taking all the lettuce since it was at the end of its growing season. After we picked all the lettuce we washed it. It had to be washed upside down in a “jellyfish” pattern three times. The “jellyfish” pattern, as Haley called it, was so that we could get all the bugs out. I was shocked at how many bugs, spiders, and slugs came out of the lettuce. Thankfully we only saw them in the first rinse bucket so the lettuce was bug-free by the third rinse. Once the lettuce was rinsed we spun it in a jumbo salad spinner. It made a goat noise as you spun it so it took us a couple rounds of spinning to realize that the farm didn’t have goats nearby. This was a little saddening but we kept spinning. Once everything was spun Haley weighed out bags of lettuce for the market and we helped Tushar weigh out kale for the market. We learned how to properly “pillow” the bags to keep the kale and lettuce from being crushed during transport.

Haley Brennan, Adam Berger, Abby, Mariel, and Tushar Gaddi

After picking and washing the lettuce we moved on to picking peas. We picked sugar snap peas and shelling peas. A bee hat had to be used while picking peas because the gnats were so bad. They kept flying in our eyes which made picking difficult. We decided that we are just naturally sweet and that’s why bugs love us. Or they like our shampoo. Either way bugs are drawn to us. We picked peas for a while and then weighed them out for the market. They didn’t have to be washed like the lettuce did but we had to pick off the tiny white flowers so they wouldn’t look unappealing to customers. We stayed at the farm for a little longer and helped dig some holes for pepper plants. We learned that rocks are a serious problem when digging holes. Tushar and Adam Berger helped us with the rocks. We dug the best holes there, just saying.

Abby, Julia Cartabiano, Mariel

After we cleaned up a bit we headed over to the Infirmary to do dietary analysis with Amy Dunham, RD. It was interesting to see how her dietary program, Food Processor, worked. We really enjoyed the dietary analysis because we like to see what people eat. Sounds weird but it’s a nutrition major thing. We also got to practice some skills that we have learned in our classes which is great! Amy is really nice and we are excited to work with her again.

For dinner we decided to head up to Storrs Center. We found Blaze Pizza, which allows you to create your own pizza. We loved the idea so we let our creative juices flow.

Abby’s Pizza: High-Rise Crust, Original Red Sauce, Feta and Mozzarella Cheese, Chicken, Bacon, Pepperoni, with a touch of Oregano and Minced Garlic.

Mariel’s Pizza: High-Rise Crust, Spicy Red Sauce, Mozzarella and Goat Cheese, Pepperoni, Italian Sausage, Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Red Peppers, Jalapeños, Chopped Garlic, Salt and Oregano.

Mariel and her delicious creation.

Abby's "Meat Lover's" pizza.

We both enjoyed Blaze Pizza’s blood orange lemonade as well. Then we splurged and had some dessert at Insomnia Cookie. We had quite the sugar high after dessert so our walk home was much needed!

On Thursday we worked the farmer’s market. We met John Smith at the convenience store in USM. Mariel helped him load the van with some produce while Mike Viens and I walked to Benton where the market would be setup. Once we got there we waited for Mariel and John then helped them setup. Julia, Haley, and Tushar came by shortly with produce from the farm that we picked the day before. After that we just sold vegetables and hung out. It was the first day for the credit card machine so we saw a lot of Wes from the One Card Office. He walked us through how to do the credit cards on the handheld. We have never worked at an open market like this before but it was a really fun experience. We enjoyed working with Haley and Tushar. They gave us some good ideas of fun things to do around campus!

Tushar, Mike Viens, Haley, Abby, Mariel

Thursday evening we went up to Storrs Center and took an art walk with a guide from Benton. It was a very nice little tour and it was much shorter than we expected. We learned about four art pieces that surround the art building in Storrs. Many of them have a lot of connections with threading companies. We also learned that many of them were part of the one percent. This means that they were made possible through a pact that with every building built, one percent of the cost had to be set aside for artwork. This could be art that decorated the walls or went outside the building. We really enjoyed our little art walk. Since it was such a nice night we stayed in Storrs Center to listen to the live band playing alt-rock. They were pretty good and it was a beautiful night to sit out and watch them.

"The Professors of Sweet, Sweet Music"

On Friday we catered the Tri-State Trek event with Wes Bookstaver. The event was a bike tour to help raise money and awareness about ALS. We began our day by loading up the van and trailer with everything we needed for the event. We even learned from Wes how to connect the trailer to the van. They never detached from one another so we must have done a good job! Once we got over to the tent across from Mirror Lake we began setting up. It didn’t take very long at all since we had so many people. Most of the setup was putting on table cloths, setting out food, and filling the giant coolers with beer and wine. We had to make sure that cold food had ice underneath and that the hot food had lit sternos. We served the bikers lunch at noon and then switched to dinner at 5pm. The event was forecasted for about 370 people, which included bikers, their families, and ALS event staff. During lunch we served burgers and hotdogs to the guests. We also spent some time being a monitor at a gate in the tent. This meant that we gave wrist bands to those over 21 and also made sure that alcohol did not leave the tent. We really enjoyed watching the bikers ride in and we were amazed at how relaxed they all were. They just rode their bikes 103 miles and were laughing and joking around. We agreed that we would have passed out under a tree somewhere. We applaud their athleticism and passion for the ALS cause.

On Saturday we worked a wedding with catering! It was an Indian/Korean themed wedding that was held in the Jorgensen. When we arrived at the Jorgensen we had to unload the catering vehicles. This didn’t take very long since there were so many workers. We finished setting all the tables after we unloaded. The theatre was set up with a wooden canopy with flowers and drapes in the center to serve as the altar with the reception set up directly behind the altar. It was beautiful. The catering staff did a wonderful job with the tables and decorations.

Catering's beautiful table settings.

Behind the altar facing guests.

Abby: “I helped to fill water glasses and put finishing touches on the tables. This included putting naan bread into baskets as well as salads on the tables. After the ceremony I was assigned to the Korean buffet and the right side of the room. I got to clear plates, fill water glasses, and fill coffees. This was fun because I got to be out on the floor and watch a lot of the reception. They had some pretty crazy dancers at this wedding! They were very entertaining to watch.”

Mariel: “I helped refill cracker plates and clear plates after the reception. For dinner, Chef Hector made samosa chat (there were over 100 dishes to be plated!). I helped by plating the samosas and topping it with mint chutney, while others helped with steps in between and after. For the rest of the night, I cleared tables from the Indian buffet. I was really impressed when the catering staff would carry trays full of glasses and plates on their shoulders with so much ease! I was too nervous to try that myself, but I’ll get there someday. I also got to congratulate the newlyweds! It was a lovely wedding.”

Once dinner was over and the party was in full swing the bride and groom cut the cake. We were in charge of the dessert station so we had to make sure it was always fully stocked with goodies. We served the wedding cake, which was a lemon curd cake, and a strawberry short cake in a martini glass. We finished the night by clearing the room and packing up catering supplies. It was a busy night but well worth the work!

Altar and reception space.

On Sunday we got to work the morning shift with Carol in Buckley. It was a great day to catch up on our projects. We also got to experience Buckley for the first time. It is a lot different from McMahon but has its own uniqueness.

Until next time!!

- Mariel and Abby