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Washington University Serves Students Food With Taste, Style

The school—located in Clayton, University City and St. Louis City—has 12,000 hungry mouths to feed. And yes, its cupboards are full.

Recently, the at Washington University at No. 7 in the nation. The school has 12,000 mouths to feed and serves 20,000 meals per day, so that's no small accomplishment.

“The award feels good,” said Nadeem Siddiqui, resident district manager for Bon Appetit, the company that provides the university's food service. “I think we have a team that provides the best. We're seventh in the nation, and that's competing against the top campuses in the country. It makes our team proud.”

Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL, ranked No. 1. Bon Appetit also supplies its food service.

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The kitchens in the South Campus Dining Facility are a sprawling labyrinth of food preparation, cooking and dishwashing areas. The dry goods storage closet is the size of a small warehouse, and the walk-in freezer is thought to be the largest in the nation.

In one smallish room, a large oil recovery tank collects used cooking oil.

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“The oil drains from all the kitchens into this vat,” said Lonnie Heilman, restaurant operations manager for Bon Appetit. “It's then converted into bio-fuel here on campus and used to fuel one of our delivery trucks that's been converted. And this was all started by a student.”

Mike Fairchild is responsible for purchasing all food and scheduling deliveries. In a single week, Fairchild must order enough food to feed an army, including 2,100 chicken breasts, 2,100 breaded chicken tenders and 800 pounds of bananas.

“We go through 800 gallons of skim milk in a week, and that's bulk milk, not counting small containers,” Fairchild said. “We get 500 cases of food delivered every day, six days a week.”

To understand what's being accomplished here, one must first understand the food Bon Appetit is serving. This isn't one-size-fits-all cafeteria food. Employees prepare food to fit every possible taste and preference. There is comfort food, Italian, Latin, vegetarian, Asian, sushi, soups, salads, stir fry, pizza, vegan, gluten-free, delicatessen, wraps, fresh baked pastries, desserts and more.

“We conform to the changing tastes of the students with new concepts and programs,” Siddiqui said. “We adapt from year to year. Students have different needs—allergies, vegetarians. We're very proactive in meeting those needs.”

Another change in students' behavior is the way they're eating and sleeping. Bon Appetit has addressed this by serving food beginning at 7:30 a.m. every morning until 2 a.m. on weekdays and until 3 a.m. on weekends.

“It's not the same as when we were growing up,” Siddiqui said. “Now students are grazing. They eat all day and nap. They don't sleep. We continue to evolve.”

The way the food is offered to students has changed as well. Instead of resembling cafeterias, the main dining areas resemble food courts in an upscale mall. Each section offering a different style of cuisine.

There are three primary restaurants around the campus, along with several satellite locations including a small market, coffee shops, cafes and even a Subway sandwich shop.

The flagship restaurant is Ibby's. It is named for Elizabeth Gray Danforth, the late wife of former chancellor William Danforth. While lunch is served buffet style, dinner service features white tablecloths and table service. The public is invited to dine here and may make reservations on Open Table.

Ibby's chef de cuisine is David Rushing, and he is committed to providing only the best.

“I'm committed to local, sustainable foods," Rushing said. "We're 70 percent local with our pork and beef. Our trout is farm-raised, and the chicken is free-range. It's all antibiotic-free with no added hormones. We just opened, and we're already changing our menu. We'll be getting fall ingredients, and our menu will reflect that.”

Not content to just offer the students good and healthy food, Bon Appetit has instituted several special programs, including a chef's table; a student chef competition; a catering service on or off campus; a barbecue and farmer's market on Fridays in the spring and fall; and a small summer farm called The Burning Kumquat.

Above all, the driving force is meeting students' needs and desires, Rushing said.

“It's not so much that the students change. We cater to all of them. We'll do something off the menu if they need it or want it. I'll go talk to them and ask, 'What do you need?'”

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