Holy Cross Dining Scoops Up Three Awards in National Competition

More than 300 dining services employees are responsible for providing meals to the 2,261 students on the meal plan at the College of the Holy Cross.

Think that’s no big feat? Chew on this: Last year, they handled 13,459 loaves of bread, 32,825 pounds of fresh tomatoes, 10,421 pounds of roast beef, 12,921 pounds of broccoli, 7,900 pounds of cereal and 117,720 pounds of chicken.

And they served 32,200 pizzas, 40,800 beef patties, and 50,800 pounds of fries.

Behind the numbers is team work - and it’s paid off. Holy Cross Dining Services has been awarded three awards in this year’s national Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards contest: Residence Hall Dining - Theme Dinner, honorable mention; Catering - Special Event, bronze; and Culinary Challenge, bronze. The contest is sponsored by the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) and is open to all institutional members.

Linda Nardella, director of Holy Cross Dining, says the awards are a result of the dining team’s attention to detail, creativity, and, most importantly, dedication to their work.

"These awards are a wonderful recognition from our peers, but it’s the compliments we receive from our students and guests that visit our facilities that is the highest award," she says.

The award for Theme Dinner recognizes "Mad Hatter’s Tea Party," in which the Kimball Dining Hall was transformed into a whimsical forest-like atmosphere as portrayed in Lewis Carroll’s book "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland." The main event featured the cake, spanning 36 feet in length and approximately 4 feet in height, accented with colorful characters and a cake to look like the hat the Mad Hatter wore. Held at the beginning of the spring 2005 semester, the event welcomed students back from winter break and celebrated the beginning of a new year.

The Catering award recognizes the President’s Council Dinner, a black tie event for alumni held in the Hogan Ballroom in November 2004. The Catering Category focuses on the menu selection, presentation, marketing and overall impression. Holy Cross’ menu consisted of beef tenderloin with roasted garlic topped with a gorgonzola butter, rosemary fingerling potatoes and sautéed fall vegetable medley.

Ed Rome, banquet chef in the Hogan Campus Center, earned a bronze award in the Culinary Challenge in front of a crowd of more than 200 food-service professionals at the NACUFS 2005 Northeast Regional Conference earlier this year. Rome broke down a saddle of lamb, and prepared a meal with two side dishes in one hour. He cooked macadamia nut and rosemary encrusted lamb loin with a Lesvos Ouzo heavy cream reduction and sun dried cherries. It was accompanied by toasted orzo with shiitake mushrooms and sweet onions, haricots verte and juanne with julienned red peppers. He finished the presentation with a fig, apple and fresh mint compote flamed with peppermint schnapps.

Holy Cross Dining will receive their awards at the NACUFS national conference in July in New Orleans.

The latest recognition doesn’t mean the small army of dining services personnel is resting on their proverbial laurels. Margaret Rollo, Student Employment, Marketing and Training Coordinator, acknowledges that getting comfortable isn’t an option - especially with the ever-discriminating eaters that are college students.

"We’re doing intensive, on-campus surveys to see where dining services needs to go in the future," says Rollo. "We’re trying to keep in touch with what the community wants from us. Do we have current services? Do we have the latest tools? Are we being innovative?

"Those surveys will also help determine whether our current dining facilities are adequate or if we need to make modifications or renovate them and help determine what types of food students would like to see."

In the past few years Holy Cross Dining has implemented more choices in the all-you-can-eat, self-serve Kimball Main Dining Room. Options now consist of classic entrees, sides and soups; deli, pizza and pasta stations; grilled burgers, chicken, hot dogs and sandwiches; 40-foot salad bar with "the works;" heart healthy entrees; vegetarian entrees, Asian and noodle bowl stir-fry stations complete with a chef; frozen yogurt; and the Kimball Sweet Shoppe, dedicated exclusively to making homemade desserts.

One innovative change has led to positive reaction among students. Weekly "Spotlights," as they’re called, add a little spice to the overall dining experience. They have included the requisite Halloween and Thanksgiving themed nights as well as "Dinosaur Rock with the Flinstones" (featuring rock ’n’ roll music), Taste of the Nation (where different food items and recipes are introduced), and, of course, the award-winning "Mad Hatter’s Tea Party."

"Whenever we have a theme night the students line up out the door," Rollo says.

Then there’s the Kimball Food Court for those busy days. Offering a la carte pricing in a neon-lit atmosphere, the food court offers wraps and subs; Asian stir fry and sushi; vegetarian entrees and sandwiches to order; garden and specialty salads; individual pizzas and calzones, among other items.

Holy Cross Dining also operates other on-campus establishments: Crossroads Pizza & Grill; Cool Beans Coffee Bar; the Lobby Shop convenience store; Hogan Campus Center Pub; concessions for the Hart Center and Football Stadium, and Crusader Catering & Take-Out. Dining Services also prepares meals for the Jesuit Community in Ciampi.