Spring 2022 Hoosletter

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 5

hoosletter

student

FAVORITES this spring

MARDI GRAS Let the good times roll! We celebrated Mardi Gras with a menu full of traditional foods. Student favorites were the Gumbo, Fried Alligator Po’Boys, Cajun Chicken, Hush Puppies, King Cake, and more!

CHILI COOKOFF What better way to celebrate National Chili Day than with a chili cookoff? Our three dining halls competed by showcasing six unique recipes and students voted on their favorites. The winner of the night was Fresh Food Company’s Chili Colorado con Carne!

SPRING COOKOUT BBQ, Ben & Jerry’s, cornhole, AND a live DJ? Now that’s a cookout. We kicked off the beginning of the season with a Spring Cookout at O’Hill. The BBQ hamburgers, hot dogs, and Vegan BBQ Jackfruit Sandwiches were a hit!

CHEF EXPOS This semester was full of delicious Chef Expo meals! Our Chefs had the opportunity to wow us with their favorite dishes and they didn’t disappoint! Chef Sal made Ham and Oaxaca Cheese Sincronizadas. Chef Matt whipped up a Fruit Flambé, served over Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Layer Cake. Chef Brijae cooked up a Vegan Black Bean Sauté. Chef Clarence ended the semester with a Springsgiving meal of turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, candied yams and more!

The CVille Market is back! In April, we invited local vendors to join us in the Ampitheatre for another CVille Market.

Students loved eating lunch from local food trucks, FireFly On-the-Go and Little Manila, along with Sombrero’s. They were able to use Flex Dollars to buy fresh produce from Morven Kitchen Garden and Bellair Farms, providing a way to participate in the local food system while staying on Grounds. Homestead Creamery and Blue Ridge Bucha also helped students stay cool in the sunny weather. We can’t wait for the next one!

This Spring, our dining halls had a variety of sustainabilityfocused events! Our Seafood Night (top) featured sustainably sourced seafood. Chef Mason's homemade Oyster Chowder recipe made with Maryland oysters was a student favorite! The Farm to Fork dinner at O’Hill highlighted local farmers by incorporating local produce into every station. We celebrated Earth Week with a Veg Out lunch (bottom), with delicious vegetarian meals at every station in O’Hill.

COOL FOOD MEALS This semester, we launched the Cool Food Meals program in The Dish at O'Hill and Fresh Food Company. Cool Food Meals have a low carbon footprint, reducing our impact on the climate.

These meal options, labeled with the above logo, provide our students a delicious way to help our planet. Cool Food Meals are also plant forward and are great options for our students looking for more plant-based options!

The Castle received a menu refresh this Spring and students are loving it! Guests have the opportunity to create their own nutritious bowls and gluten-free wraps. Featuring a variety of ingredients and locally sourced produce, The Castle offers a delicious way for students to make healthy choices. The Castle is also free of the top allergens (shellfish, nuts, and eggs) and gluten-free, providing a safe dining option on Grounds for our students with food allergies.

HEALTHY HOOS MEET THE DIETITIAN Our Registered Dietitian, Danielle Schneider, is here to help take the mystery out of healthy eating! Danielle joined our team in December 2021, after earning a Master of Science in Nutrition from Dominican University. Danielle collaborates with our dining team to ensure our students are provided healthy, well-rounded meals that work for any diet.

ALLERGEN CERTIFICATIONS The Copper Hood, our Allergen Solution station, was developed to make eating easier for those with allergies and intolerances. All "Big 8" allergens and gluten are excluded from this station. Currently, The Castle is in the process of earning a certification from MenuTrinfo, to be “Certified Free From” gluten, shell-fish, nuts, and eggs.

We’re excited to develop more options for our students with specific dietary needs!

Student Feedback

"Miss Ty at (the) omelets (station) is wonderful. Her big smile just brightens my day each morning."

"The vegan mac & cheese was sooo yummy!"

3,272 VOC submissions from Aug 2021May 2022

"I just wanted to say how wonderful the staff is here (Sidley Austin Café). They all make you feel like family. I really enjoy coming in at any time of the day. I just wanted to say thank you for all they do everyday."

"Love seeing chefs help prepare and serve pizzas.

They look amazing and taste just as good."

"I couldn’t be more excited to eat at JPJ each night. I love the atmosphere and the food is filling!

I’m very fortunate to be able to eat here and have such a good relationship with the staff."

92% OVERALL SATISFACTION

"Wanted to shoutout Tony from the pasta station for bringing a smile to my face every time we talk."

"Love that they know my order when I walk in the door despite how busy they are" (Starbucks-Newcomb)

"I love having cauliflower wings on Friday!"

"Minnie at Savory Stack is always nice and helpful"

91% QUALITY

"I cannot speak highly enough about the new pasta bar. Dae & the other two workers today at lunch run like a well-oiled machine making sure that every single order is exactly how students want it and made quickly to boot. Their professionalism and patience is excellent - any issue that slowed them down was either due to sheer demand or student error. I can't wait to come back for more very soon."

INNOVATING SERVICE AND DELIVERY Good Uncle is a food delivery app that delivers delicious, chef-created food to specific drop-off points on Grounds.

Students can use their Flex Dollars to order food in the Good Uncle app.

In the Spring semester, UVA recorded the most orders across all universities partnered with Good Uncle! Students are loving Good Uncle's flexibility and convenience. Good Uncle also offered promo codes to entice unfamiliar students to give their product a try.

UVA once again recorded the highest number of promo codes, totaling over 200!

UVA recorded the 2nd highest number of sign ups against other universities with Good Uncle!

STAYING SOCIAL OUR MOST-LIKED CONTENT THIS SEMESTER

HOOS TRENDING Have you checked out our TikTok? Our student TikTok intern, Julie, is a thirdyear student who has been creating exciting videos, from event recaps to fun dancing trends featuring staff. Julie brought her skills from her past position creating TikToks for a local restaurant to find creative ways to connect with our students and the UVA community. We’re currently at 850 followers and our most watched TikTok has 31k views. We're excited to grow our audience even more next year!

Follow us @uvadine !

We ended the 2021-2022 year by volunteering with Cultivate Charlottesville!

Our UVADine team joined Cultivate at Clark Elementary School to help clean up the City Schoolyard Garden.

SEE YOU IN THE FALL! /uvadine

virginia.edu/dining

@uvadine

dining@virginia.edu

@uvadine

(434) 982-5140