Melissa: "Today, there was nothing much going on. I was working on the serving line at Crossroads from 7am to 2pm. Later, I met with Renee and Megan to discuss about the specifics for special event."
Megan: "I started my morning in a meeting with Jose (senior executive chef), Renee (dietitian), Thierry (director of dining and retail) and Shawn (executive director). In the meeting we discussed issues with certain companies that we are ordering from and address those problems as necessary. We also talked about ways in which the menu will be changed over time by adding more plant based products. Although this is not going to happen over night, they expect over time this will aid in increasing sustainability that we strive for. After the meeting, I worked with Frank Pazzanese who is the GM at Clark Kerr dining facility. He went over the staffing of the facility and how he works to figure out how many people he needs to run the operation. During lunch time, we worked on the floor by monitoring the serving line and replenishing as needed. Also when we were running short on pizza I helped make regular and flat bread pizza. After lunch I worked with Melissa on our themed projected, and brainstormed ideas for our meeting this week!"
Tuesday
Today, we received a project that detailed in updating SOPs. Based on the knowledge we gained last week from working in the units, we were better able to understand the SOPs and update it according to how it would fit best in the facility. Some of the SOPs that we updated included: food safety policy, peanut allergy safety, gluten allergy safety, cross-contamination, thermometer calibration, time and temperature log, and thermometer use. After we finished altering the SOPs we went to Golden Bear and continued the project on new fall menu items. We worked with Shannon, the GM of Golden Bear Cafe, and created samples for students to try. We had previously created a survey for the breakfast burrito samples. We approached students and asked them if they were interested in sampling some new products for the fall menu and if they could provide us with their feedback. After we collected all the surveys, we reviewed the feedback from the students with the manager to conclude what should be changed to get one step closer to the final product. After we finished up at Golden Bear Cafe, we worked on event planning for the remainder of the day. We came up with some creative ideas to better prepare ourselves for the meeting on Wednesday morning. We worked on sourcing all of the products that we wanted to have and drew out a plan of the facility with how we would arrange the serving line and some decorations.
Breakfast burrito samples at GBC
Wednesday
Today we continued more event planning before our meeting with D, our event coordinator. While meeting with D we reviewed the layout of the dining facilities, decoration ideas and the source of the products we are planning to purchase. After the meeting we returned back to Crossroads to the Honey Bear Bakery. The retired bakery will be converted into a test kitchen/ cooking demonstration station. We began the initial planning of equipment that needs to be removed and replaced. We created a list of equipment that we may need for the station. While we were on our way back up to the office, we tested a few new items for the late night menu. The remainder of the day we did more event planing and met with Christiana from marketing. In the meeting we showed her our ideas on decorating the facilities with posters and other printed materials. She also sparked a new idea which we will propose and hopefully implement. 
Megan taste testing new items!
Thursday-
Today we had a very busy today of juggling a few projects. In the morning, Megan continued working on formulating a list of supplies for the test kitchen and drawing out a proposed idea for the layout of the facility. Meanwhile, Melissa continued sourcing the supplies for the special event and calculating the cost for decorations. Then, Megan worked on formulating new smoothie recipes for the fall menu. The chef had provided creative names of smoothies and a few ingredients for each one, and it was up to Megan to use her creativity to decide the proportions for the fruit and green smoothies. After we worked together in finding more pictures for marketing to print for our event. Later, we attended a meeting with Jose (chef), Christina (marketing) and Renee (RD), to discuss allergen labeling for the fall semester. We decided to only label the top eight allergens on the menu, instead of labeling extra allergens such as sesame seed and casein. In the afternoon, we went up to Foothill where our special event will take place, and laid out the placement of decoration, took measurements, and counted the number of tables for centerpieces. This planning really helped us visualize the look we were trying to achieve! One of the major issues we ran into was decorating the Stern room. There are existing posters on the wall that are not compatible with the theme of our event, so we have to brainstorm ideas of how we will cover them to matched. Additionally, we have to consider how many suppliers we need to purchase, and avoid ordering decoration that cannot be reused in the future. After a long day, we had a relaxing night watching shark week and going out to a local sushi restaurant for dinner.
Megan looking at some yummy smoothie recipes!
One of the walls we will dress up for the event
Melissa hanging our poster ideas
The pie station!!
Making taking measurements for posters that marketing will make
Sushi for dinner!
That is one big piece of sushi!
Friday-
Today we met with Brian to review SOPs we completed earlier in the week. While reviewing the SOPs we make corrections to new practices that are in place in each facility, such as using color coated cutting boards, digital thermometers, and taking temperatures. We made corrections to ensure all SOPs match what is expected of each employee. After we reviewed and finalized three SOPs we met with Sunil who is the purchasing manager. Sunil explained to us his roles and responsibility as the liaison between vendors and Cal Dining. Sunil receives requests from Jose (chef), for specific products on the menu and then Sunil collects information about each products that Cal Dining wants to use. The information on the product is then sent to the procurement department to release a bid to each manufacture. The procurement department oversees the sources of products that all departments across campus use. Then, each vendor sends product information and samples to Cal Dining for the product to be tested and evaluated, based on the bid and specifications they have. New product testing is completed between May- July, to have ready for the beginning of the academic year. During the academic year, if the dining facility decides to order an item that is not on the regular purchasing guide, the chef has to get approval. Sunil also meets with vendors for new items and products, and addresses issues with current products. We learned how an order is completed through the Bear Buy system and the amount of detail needed for each product order. Overall, Sunil has a very important job of being the connection between all of Cal Dining because he mentioned that about eight years ago, there was no purchasing manager and therefore each dining facility did all of their own purchasing. There are many branches of management that purchases go through, therefore often purchases take much longer than expected.
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