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one dedicated to carrying prepped food and supplies up to the north end of the food court, the other used solely for ferrying trash and soiled serviceware back down to avoid cross-contamination. The ice machine area is also located here for easy ice distribution to service areas. Just past the ice machines is a bank of six massive walk-in coolers and freezers. CPK, Lemonade, Seeds and catering each have their own dedicated coolers; FACT BOX Wahoo’s and Panda share a cooler, and the MENU/SEGMENT: freezer is used by all. In addition, a dedicated Moreton Fig walk-in College/University is located near the prep kitchen area, while a Traditions walk-in is adjacent to the production PRODUCTION KITCHEN SIZE: 13,000 sq. ft. kitchen area. “Separate but equal” applies in food producDINING OUTLETS: California tion as well as storage. Klinger and his team rely Pizza Kitchen, Carl’s Jr., on checklists, color-coding and lots of labeling Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, to keep concept supplies and smallwares Lemonade, Moreton Fig, Panda straight. “We created production smallwares Express, Seeds Marketplace, checklists for each prep and cooking station Traditions Bar & Grill, Wahoo’s serving the various concepts. It’s up to the cooks Fish Taco and the Campus to make sure that whatever tools they use get Center banquet hall. washed and returned to the stations before they MEALS/DAY: 8,000 leave,” Klinger says. Color-coded tags on smallwares and pans REVENUE, 2011: $11.4 million also help keep things straight. “Each concept has its own specific set of smallwares, but food- STUDENT POP.: 37,000 service staff tends to use whatever happens to be closest at hand, usually the pans,” Klinger KITCHEN EQUIPMENT says. “This becomes an issue when a certain PACKAGE: $5.76 million venue needs a specific amount of food preKEY DESIGN PARTNERS: pared, and none of its pans are available.”
the troughs wash food debris into catchment screens for end-of-shift collection. The gratings are sized so they can be run through the warewasher. “The floor-wash system saves on worker time and water that would otherwise be used in washing mats or cleaning floors,” Klinger says. “And the slightly springy grating material seems to help reduce worker fatigue.” Just past the prep area, the passageway makes a left turn. If you look to the right you’ll find another service elevator used for sending food up to the south end of the food court venues. This elevator also supplies catering trucks making deliveries to other campus food outlets. The kitchen’s main scullery area, across from the elevator, cleans kitchen pots and pans with the aid of a continuous motion warewashing system. Also in this corner is a dedicated walk-in USC: Assoc. Sr. V.P. of Auxilfor Traditions. iary Services Dan Stimmler; Prep, Floors & Big-Batch Cooking Food then moves from prep straight into the former Dir. USC Hospitality adjacent cooking area. The cooking area feaMoving on from storage toward prep, the banScott Shuttleworth; current tures high-volume production equipment: tilting quet dishroom on the left is placed well to Dir. Hospitality Kris Klinger pressure braisers, combi ovens, blast chiller, a accept soiled dishes from the nearby 700-seat Foodservice design: R.W. banquet hall. Also here is where you’ll find the Smith & Co., Costa Mesa, Calif. dual bain-marie/ice bath and roughed-in space for future cook-chill equipment. main waste pulper plus the cart- and mat-wash- Architectural design: A.C. The final area of the production kitchen is a Martin Partners, Los Angeles ing stations. smaller cooking area at the short leg of the “L”— “The pulper unit accepts food-waste scraps, Construction: Tutor-Saliba this area is dedicated to serving Traditions bar which are broken down and then processed Corp., Sylmar, Calif. orders, as well as room service and catering finthrough the extractor to expel water,” Manni ishing. A small warewashing area adjacent hansays. “This reduces waste weight by as much as WEBSITE: hospitality.usc.edu dles soiled dishes from Traditions. It’s a good 85% and saves on trash collection fees.” Immediately across from the long bank of walk-ins is the prep way to keep sporadic workloads from complicating bigger-volarea. Key equipment there includes fixed work tables, prep sinks, ume production, and it’s handy to the outlets. choppers, food processors, a vertical cutter-mixer and numerous mobile work tables for flexibility. The tables all have access to Tutor Center Looks Ahead electric power via ceiling-hung retractable outlets. In an unusual Klinger is already looking at growing the Tutor Center production move for the prep area, designers included an undercounter pulp- kitchen’s output. “We’re working this year on making the kitchen a 24-hour operation starting next fall,” he says. ing system here as well. Also expected to be added as demand grows will be the cookOne thing visitors tend to notice during a tour of the production kitchen is its floor and how clean it stays even during the heat chill production equipment. “We have the space for it all—we just of culinary battle. The floor in front of all prep and cooking areas, need to purchase and install the equipment,” Klinger says. For now, though, the USC’s Tutor Center production kitchen as well as in the dishroom and scullery, features a non-skid grating material set above shallow floor troughs. Water jets set flow in has plenty to keep it busy.
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Lemonade was created by Los Angeles caterer Chef Alan Jackson. For a 3D tour of the Tutor Center, visit www.usc. edu/student-affairs/ construction/virtual_tour.