The SPARTAN CAFE opened for business in Gates Chili High School January 7, 2008!

Food Service Director Debbi Beauvais, RD SNS, took on the challenge: renovate her existing foodservice facility and rejuvenate the school lunch program. She instituted the growing trend in K-12 school foodservice concepts: offering a variety of meal selections in a “Food Court” setting.

Mrs. Beauvais relates her experience; "Our high school cafeteria renovation project began over two years ago as I was asked to design my ideal kitchen and servery ... I met with an architect from Labella Associates, PC in Rochester, NY and their kitchen design specialist from Fetech, Inc. in Mattydale, NY. My 'vision' for the facility was communicated to them, and they returned with conceptual drawings of the space. ... It was great to ... walk through the drawings and identify the flow of food from delivery through production and then out to the service point. Walking through this flow in the drawings was essential to determine equipment needs and placement."

Through her innovative, customer focused thinking, she accomplished three goals that will ultimately increase participation:

1. Used Delfield customized equipment solutions to create a foodservice line that moves quickly and creates efficient work flow while saving staff time and labor. This also allows the students more time to enjoy lunch with their friends.
2. Created menus to engage her diners. Providing nutritious and appealing food is vital in making sure they have the chance to become healthy contributing adults.
3. Created a warm, friendly environment in the cafeteria to make mealtime pleasurable.

Across the nation, schools have been scrambling to develop wellness policies and maintain nutrition standards in menu development. Research shows that nutritious food that looks and tastes good will bring kids back for more. Gates Chili has done just that; Mrs. Beauvais states, "Meal participation is up 50-100 plus meals per day."

With the health and well-being of her students in mind, Debbi and her staff offer the following meal stations:

• "Signature Pizzas" is their own pizza shop
• "Spartan Favorites" offers a taco bar along with another favorite entrée
• "Burgers & More" provides a featured hot sandwich in addition to a rotation of traditional burgers, Tyson chicken patty sandwiches, and Zweigle's red hots

"Made Fresh for You" is earmarked to become one of the favorite new stations. This line provides deli sandwiches, wraps, salads, or subs made to order.

Taking on the challenging initiative of offering healthy foods as well as a quick meal, Debbi purchased "Grab and Go" cases. This area features fresh meal boxes including a variety of subs, salads, yogurts, bagels, fruit with yogurt parfaits, and salads.

To increase à la carte foods options, students are provided the choice to add side dishes to their entrée selections through self-service stations:

• tossed salad and a canned fruit
• plentiful bowls of fresh fruit
• warm and satisfying soup
• other hot vegetable offerings

At they check out, students are able to grab a low-fat milk, 100% juice, or water to complement their meal.

Debbi and the Gates Chili Central School District have taken on the responsibility of enhancing the lunch program while teaching students how to develop a healthly lifestyle by improving their eating habits.

Finally, versatile and heart healthy meal choices can be provided through recent purchases of innovative equipment for the kitchen. Debbi worked with her consultant and dealer, Main-Ford General Supply in Rochester, NY, to carefully analyze the newest trends in food preparation and storage equipment.

The foodservice department at the Gates Chili High School faced many challenges this fall in preparing and serving meals while the general contractor, Spoleta Construction coordinated the renovation of the existing facility. To provide the nearly 1,000 meals served daily to the students and staff:

• A temporary service area was set-up
• The kitchen facilities were housed in the parking lot outside the cafeteria
• A mobile kitchen trailer and several rental trucks and trailers were used

Mrs. Beauvais summarizes the project; "It was through many strong partnerships that we ended up with the great layout and design we currently have. For me, it was very scary to take on this large project, but it is awesome to see my vision become the reality it is."

The final outcome is spectacular, with just the right equipment for preparation, production, storage, and warewashing. Congratulations to everyone who was involved in this renovation success story.

Bowerman Marketing Group can assist you with your renovation or equipment needs. We welcome the opportunity to review your operational goals and help match the equipments' features accordingly.

To follow are some of the manufacturers involved in this project:

Contact us for information and to review your future needs; contact Mrs. Beauvais to discuss this project from her perspective.