{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-article-tsx","path":"/primecatering","result":{"data":{"primeArticle":{"slug":"prime.catering","excerpt":"From Bruin Family Weekend to academic conventions, UCLA Conferences & Catering serves some of campus’ biggest events – but not without its own helping of roadblocks.","headline":"Serving with style","author":"Rania Soetirto","authorbio":"","authoremail":"","authortwitter":"","coverimg":"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/prime.catering/cateringcover2-e3aebd4b5c44dfc279c8958aff7fe476.png","covercred":"Shengfeng Chien","coveralt":"Photograph of staff assembling fruit tray","articleType":"article","updated":null,"content":[{"type":"text","value":"Like many students, I have passed by the UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center countless times. Its red brick walls create a regal yet inviting atmosphere, beckoning passersby to come in."},{"type":"text","value":"Situated in the intersection by Strathmore Place and Westwood Plaza, the center serves as UCLA’s primary hotel, thriving from the guests swiveling in and out of its doors. However, unbeknownst to many students, it also contains the two powerhouse kitchens that make up one of the most complex operations on campus: UCLA Conferences & Catering."},{"type":"text","value":"With the variety of responsibilities it holds, UCLA Catering certainly has its plate full. The enterprise’s main tasks include serving the guests at the conference center and running Plateia, the hotel’s Mediterranean-inspired restaurant. But UCLA Catering’s services extend beyond the confines of the hotel – the operation also feeds hundreds of guests at a time in a variety of different campus events."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"We really try to accommodate the best we possibly can.\\\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"On a Friday morning in April, I had the opportunity to witness the team in action. I entered the kitchen through the still-empty dining area of Plateia and watched as staff members prepared succulent chicken in large serving bowls. I noticed how at home they seemed to feel amongst the room’s industrial-sized machinery."},{"type":"text","value":"The kitchens were relatively quiet that morning, with only two staff members manning the restaurant’s hot line. Jason Tingley, the Luskin Conference Center executive chef, said the kitchens usually grow more hectic when dinner time approaches. Their nighttime cuisine, which includes heavy dishes such as filet mignon, requires the staff to spend the morning prepping and searing."},{"type":"text","value":"With his secure but brisk pace, Tingley walked me through the kitchen’s appliances as he explained the behind-the-scenes work of UCLA Catering. He led me into the storage room, where multicolored spices lined the walls. From chermoula, which is mostly used to cook Northern African food, to vadouvan, a fragrant yellow powder used in French-style curry, the kitchen staff stocks the ingredients needed to make any dish as authentic as possible."},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"Photograph of staff assembling trays of pastries\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/prime.catering/pastries-cc6ab863cafe8e826f5835e6e2509fcb.jpg\",\"credit\":\"Shengfeng Chien/Daily Bruin staff\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Although UCLA Catering offers set menus to its customers, Tingley said the culinary team often receives requests to create custom menus tailored to a client’s tastes. Such requests allow Tingley to experiment with a variety of different cuisines. From Indonesian to North African food, Tingley said he can create a menu with as little as 24 hours’ notice."},{"type":"text","value":"\"We really try to accommodate the best we possibly can,\" Tingley said. \"And we encourage you (customers) to have customized menus. That’s the fun part of what we do.\""},{"type":"text","value":"For Tingley, authenticity comes above all else. When unfamiliar with international recipes, he turns to the internet – or, better yet, to other chefs on his team. With culinary specialists from a variety of different backgrounds, UCLA Catering can authentically replicate many types of cuisine. Tingley recalled a time when a guest asked for Korean food – he simply reached out to a Korean colleague who had knowledge about the country’s traditional dishes."},{"type":"text","value":"This warm kitchen atmosphere was a sharp contrast to about two and a half years ago when the COVID-19 pandemic first put the catering and hospitality industry on pause. From facing staffing shortages to temporarily halting its delivery services, UCLA Catering partially lost its ability to serve guests. As a result, it had to limit the number of events it could cater."},{"type":"text","value":"According to Samantha Chan – director of conferences, catering and marketing at the Luskin Conference Center – UCLA Catering has seen an increase in business since last fall but remains selective with the number of events it can execute. As the operation continues to regain its staffing numbers, Donald Kinch, the director of catering operations, said there was a time during the pandemic when the enterprise lost about 60% of its workforce."},{"type":"text","value":"Even as students returned to campus in the 2021-22 school year, UCLA Catering struggled to rebound to normal levels of service. Its staffing shortage last year forced the campus to work with four outside vendors to host Bruin Family Weekend, an event traditionally served by UCLA Catering, Chan said. When the residential halls on campus also began to suffer from staffing shortages, UCLA Catering relocated some of its already-dwindling staff to the Hill, she added."},{"type":"text","value":"At the same time, the pressing need to feed essential workers and students pushed UCLA Catering to redirect its endeavors. Aided by their experience with regular deliveries, UCLA Catering staffers devised a system to bring isolation meals directly to the rooms of people in quarantine, Chan said. They provided enough food for three meals a day and offered alternative options for people with dietary restrictions. During the pandemic, UCLA Catering could feed up to 1,800 of the university’s essential workers per day, said senior executive chef of UCLA Dining Joey Martin."},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"Photograph of staff assembling fruit platter\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/prime.catering/slices-df4afc63236dd3196f17a27cdb6a8cdf.jpg\",\"credit\":\"Shengfeng Chien/Daily Bruin staff\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Joshua Lee has firsthand knowledge of UCLA Catering’s isolation services. In October, Lee – now an alumnus – contracted COVID-19 and was sent to the UCLA Guest House on Charles E. Young Drive. Although he couldn’t leave his room for food, he said UCLA Catering allowed him to order meals 24 hours in advance, providing around five options for each meal during his time in quarantine."},{"type":"text","value":"But Lee’s experience with UCLA Catering is far more extensive than his brush with isolation – he’s actually a former server with the operation. As a student employee, Lee served a variety of different events, ranging from programs with the medical school to the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame dinner. He said his shift during the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame dinner allowed him to see former UCLA athletes in person, as he recalled his coworkers talking about the former Bruins’ careers."},{"type":"text","value":"Lee is far from the only student server to come across famous athletes. When the Cincinnati Bengals came to practice at UCLA before the 2022 Super Bowl, rising third-year sociology student Molly Sipes had just clocked into work. That night, Sipes said she noticed a man standing by the smoothie station, which was closed, wanting to place an order. Sipes said she refused to serve him before the man walked away. It wasn’t long before she found out the man was none other than Joe Burrow, the Bengals quarterback."},{"type":"text","value":"\"All my coworkers flipped over, and they're like, ‘That was Joe Burrow, and you just told him you won't make a stupid smoothie!’\" Sipes said."},{"type":"text","value":"According to Sipes, another perk of the job is that student workers can sometimes take meals home when there are leftovers. I soon learned this was just one of the strategies UCLA Catering employs to boost its sustainability."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"It's a constant research to see what farms are out there that can best help us succeed in our sustainability goals.\\\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Hidden in plain sight among the student study spaces and dorm buildings of the Hill lie the aeroponic towers at Sproul Landing. Standing in tall, neat rows in rectangular rises made from wood, passersby can see the greenery growing along the towers like vines on a tree. The garden, which I originally thought existed solely for aesthetic purposes, has been quietly supplying vegetables and herbs to Plateia. The towers require less water than traditional agriculture, said UCLA Sustainability’s chief sustainability officer Nurit Katz in an emailed statement."},{"type":"text","value":"But although there are 44 towers, the aeroponic garden only supplies 5% of the total produce needed to keep UCLA Catering’s kitchens running, Martin said. Another source of produce and other ingredients for UCLA Catering comes from local farmers, who sell organic produce and practice ethical methods in animal husbandry. To ensure sustainability, UCLA Catering purchases meat from ranchers who raise their cows solely on pasture grass and only use free-range chicken, Martin said. UCLA Catering also makes an effort to buy underutilized fish and seafood originally set to be thrown away or processed as fish food."},{"type":"text","value":"\"It's a constant research to see what farms are out there that can best help us succeed in our sustainability goals,\" Martin said."},{"type":"text","value":"But one of the biggest sustainability concerns in catering is food waste. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, food waste in the country is estimated to encompass 30%-40% of the nation’s food supply. Approximately 40% of the food waste produced comes from restaurants, grocery stores and food service companies."},{"type":"text","value":"Dana Hunnes, an assistant professor of public health and senior dietitian at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, said calculating the amount of waste produced by an operation is one of the key means of managing food waste."},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"Photograph of staff slicing lime wedges\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/prime.catering/fruit-eb261612bf74aabebfcb81501d036749.jpg\",\"credit\":\"Shengfeng Chien/Daily Bruin staff\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"However, UCLA Catering faces challenges in gathering this data. According to an emailed statement from UCLA Housing & Hospitality editorial and communications manager Rebecca Kendall, while student dining and residential restaurants can scrape food from dishes and weigh the waste on site, UCLA Catering does not. What UCLA Catering can do, however, is analyze the amount of food produced before comparing it to the amount of food that actually gets eaten during the event, Kendall said. This data is eventually accumulated into production notes, which the catering team references for future projects. Kendall added that unused items that can be reused are sent to the employee dining room or repurposed for a different event."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"We want to impress these people. We want to give them really great food for them to come back.\\\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"The combination of food, sustainability and diversity has shaped the culture of UCLA Catering. Each detail of the dishes prepared and furniture used influences the atmosphere the operation strives to create at every event it caters. The staff also acknowledges the connections they have made through food, fondly recalling stories of guests they have served. While walking me through the kitchen, Tingley shared personal anecdotes of his customers."},{"type":"text","value":"For instance, one of the operation’s regulars is known to have visited Plateia more than 80 times. Upon growing familiar with her, Tingley said the staff learned to make special steaks specifically catered to her."},{"type":"text","value":"\"We want to impress these people,\" Tingley said. \"We want to give them really great food for them to come back.\""},{"type":"text","value":"I can see the staff’s desire to create and serve through food. Like many others in the industry, UCLA Catering is more than eager to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic. And that’s what the staff is doing as they welcome both customers and students."},{"type":"text","value":"At the end of my visit to the kitchens, I found my last stop of the day to be the docking station, which houses UCLA Catering’s delivery trucks."},{"type":"text","value":"Compared to the opulent and bustling noises of the hotel above, the docking station was empty and quiet. I could imagine the fleet was probably off somewhere on campus, carrying meals for guests and students alike. Meanwhile, just behind the doors to the kitchen, the staff packaged meal upon meal in brown paper bags – ready to serve the campus for yet another day."}]}},"pageContext":{"term":"summer22","slug":"prime.catering"}},"staticQueryHashes":[]}