A Sweet Year for UConn Dairy Bar

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From Game of Cones to making their own waffles cones, the Dairy Bar has had a sweet year! Congrats to the Dairy Bar, UConn Animal Science and the UConn Creamery for receiving the following awards and mentions:

  • Best Ice Cream – The Chronicle Best of 2019 Readers’ Choice Award
  • Best Ice Cream Shop – Hartford Courant – CTNow Best of Hartford Readers’ Poll 2019
  • American Society of Animal Science 2019 Big Scoop Competition: Lemon Ice Box Pie
  • American Cheese Society 2019: Our Chipotle Queso Blanco and our Green Chile Queso Blanco were recognized for excellence amongst 1742 products from over 250 entering companies. The Chipotle and Green Chile cheeses were awarded second and third place in their category, respectively.
  • Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence Hall of Fame: Dairy Bar earned a spot in the Trip Advisor Hall of Fame for 5 years of excellence!

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Earth, Wok & Fire Opens in Student Union

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Earth, Wok & Fire officially opened on the lower level of the Student Union this week, offering a fine selection of Asian cuisine.

Its name was created by UConn students, who offered a fitting reference to the two styles of preparation that are offered at this venue.

Customers have a choice of either carefully prepared Asian dishes with zesty and tangy flavors, such as General Tso’s Chicken, Beef & Broccoli, and Vegetable Lo Mein, or creating their own masterpiece. Customers can build their own dish by selecting a protein, vegetables, and a wide selection of sauces and seasonings. Daily specials will also be offered.

Earth, Wok & Fire’s chefs take the time and effort to ensure quality ingredients by making food from scratch every day.

We appreciate your feedback and patience during our opening week.

Earth, Wok & Fire

Hours of Operation: 

Monday-Thursday 11:00am-7:00pm
Fridays 11:00am-5:00pm

Nutritional Information

Cash, Husky Bucks, Visa, MasterCard, AmEx, and Discover are accepted.

Chef Profile: Sean Hawkins

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I love cooking for the creativity, taking simple ingredients and enhancing their flavors to create a new dish.

Connections to UConn for Chef Sean Hawkins have truly come full circle.

Growing up in Mansfield, Hawkins attended Windham Tech, during which he took on internships at UConn’s South Dining Hall and Union Street Market. After graduating from Windham Tech, he enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America and completed an internship at Le Cellier Steakhouse, one of Disney World’s most-booked restaurants. After receiving his Associate of Occupational Studies in Culinary Arts in 2009 he went on to work at country clubs in Florida and Connecticut.

Sean’s first sous-chef position brought him to the Spa at Norwich Inn, named “Best Destination Spa in New England” by Yankee Magazine. He continued his passion for cooking locally, refining his skills at places like Dog Lane Café, The Whelk, a farm-to-table restaurant in Westport, and Fenton River Grill in Mansfield.

Sean returned to UConn in November 2018 and has worked as a chef at Putnam Dining Hall, Northwest Dining Hall, and the campus restaurant, Bistro On Union Street, where he helped to create the menu for Connecticut Farm-to-Chef Week featuring locally sourced ingredients.

 

Chef Landolphi Guest Appearance on WTNH 8 Minute Meals

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UConn Dining Services Manager for Culinary Development Robert Landolphi made a guest appearance on WTNH Channel 8 Good Morning CT creating a Hawaiian Barbecue Pulled Pork sandwich on a Hawaiian brioche bun. Check out the video to make it at home or try one today in the USM Market Cafe (Student Union, 1st floor).

Chef Landolphi also showed off the Polish (Zapiekanka) Flatbread, Japanese Chicken Salad, and the Italian Flatbread. All are being served this week at the Market Cafe.

 

A Bug Feast

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On March 14th, 2019, UConn Dining Services hosted an insect-themed pop-up dinner in collaboration with Professor Ana Legrand at Rome Hall, offering guests a unique opportunity to explore insects as a sustainable and nutritious food source.

Interest in the nutritional value of insects has grown as researchers and consumers continue to search for alternative, sustainable sources of protein. A recent study found that crickets contain more bioavailable iron than sirloin steak, highlighting their potential nutritional benefits. Insects are consumed in many parts of the world, with at least 1,959 edible insect species recorded worldwide. They contain all essential amino acids and are rich in vitamins and minerals. Additionally, mass rearing of insects for food has a smaller environmental footprint due to their high reproductive rates and efficient conversion of feed into edible tissue.

The event introduced attendees to the idea that insects have been part of the human diet since ancient times and can offer a wide variety of flavors and culinary experiences.

The menu for the evening featured a variety of insect-inspired dishes, including cricket chips with fresh pico de gallo, beef sliders featuring weaver ants with chipotle ketchup, an Asian Bahn Mi taco with chapulines and Italian sausage served in a steamed bao bun, arancini made with mealworms served with pesto and marinara sauce, crepes made with cricket flour topped with fresh berry compote and chocolate-covered crickets, and a green tea silkworm smoothie.

The pop-up dinner offered guests a one-of-a-kind dining experience while highlighting sustainable, high-protein options and encouraging conversation about the future of food and environmental sustainability.

UConn students indulge in bug feast on campus

 

Dining Services to End Use of Plastic Bags

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The University of Connecticut’s Department of Dining Services will be eliminating the use of plastic bags in its retail and grab & go venues. Effective, Monday, January 21st UConn Dining will discontinue the use of plastic shopping bags in support of the university’s ongoing sustainable efforts.

This initiative, to discontinue the use of plastic shopping bags, was jump started by a subcommittee of UConnPIRG, a student run, nonprofit organization on the UConn Campus.  Their campaign, to phase out the use of plastic bags, was supported by student surveys and petitions. Beyond policy work, PIRG’s zero waste committee enhanced student awareness regarding the pitfalls of single-use plastics through educational lectures and movie screenings. These initiatives highlighted the deleterious impact of plastic bags on both environmental and public health.

Dining Services will be discontinuing the use of plastic bags in all of their retail operations as well as in their Grab & Go’s. In place of the use of the former plastic bag UConn Dining will be offering a brown paper, 100% recyclable and reusable bag at the cost of ten cents each. In addition, Dining will be offering reusable pocket size shopping bags for sale at cost at the Union Central Exchange located in the Student Union.

Dining Services will also be working with UConn PIRG this semester to establish drop off containers so that paper bags may be recycled utilized by other consumers at no cost to them.

For more information, read the story in UConn Today

Dining Services 2019 Culinary Competition

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You Are Invited to Attend!

The Department of Dining Services will hold its 19th annual Culinary Olympics on Tuesday, January 15, 2019. The event will take place at the South Campus Rome Ballroom, located on the University of Connecticut, Storrs Campus.

The first event is the “Recipe Contest,” which is scheduled to begin at approximately 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Recipes must be prepared on site for 12 portions, and must fall into one of the following categories: Appetizer/Entrée/Dessert. Recipes will then be judged on the following criteria: Clarity of Recipe/Creativity of Dish/Cooking Techniques/Use of Ingredients/Taste and Texture.

9:30am-10:30am: Chef Demonstration- George Giotsas, Chef Owner, “Little Mark’s Big BBQ, Vernon, CT. http://littlemarksbbq.com/  Horiatikes Keftedes (Greek village style meatballs) / Horiatiki Salata (Greek village style Salad)

10:30am-1:30 pm: UConn Bakery Demos’ and Displays- Stop by and learn the art of decorating from our professional pastry chefs and bakers.

The final event is scheduled to begin at approximately 12:30pm and is called “BOILING POINT”. This is our version of the “Iron Chef” competition that will involve teams of three chefs representing the different dining facilities within the department. Each team will be presented with a mystery box of ingredients and will use miscellaneous items from our pantry to prepare three different Tapas (small foods or appetizers) on each plate. Teams will have 75 minutes to prepare their dishes for 4 judges. Teams will then be scored on the following criteria: Creativity of Dish / Cooking Techniques / Use of Ingredients / Taste, and Textures. (Teams are not allowed to bring ingredients or use ingredients that are not supplied by the competition)

“Award Presentation immediately following Boiling Point”

 

Schedule of Events

9:30am: Cooking Demonstration

George Giotsas, Chef Owner “Little Mark’s Big BBQ, Vernon, CT. Horiatikes Keftedes (Greek village style meatballs) / Horiatiki Salata (Greek village style Salad)- http://littlemarksbbq.com/

 

10:30am-12:15pm: Recipe Contest Judging

Judge: Chef Will Deason, Willimantic Brewing Company / Main Street Café, Willimantic, CT. www.willibrew.com
Judge: Jason Bentley, Department Head, Culinary Arts, Norwich Technical High School, http://norwich.cttech.org/index.html.
Judge: Ruth Hartunian-Alumbaugh, Chair Willimantic Chocolate Festival, and Food writer, Willimantic Chronicle, https://thechronicle.com/
Judge: Owner Andrew Gutt, Cafemantic Restaurant, Willimantic, CT. https://cafemantic.com/

12:30pm-4:45pm: “Boiling Point” Competition

Judge: Chef Christopher Prosperi, Chef-Owner, Metro Bis Restaurant. www.MetroBis.com
Judge: Rand Richards Cooper, Novelist, Longtime Food and Travel writer, and Food Critic with The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/
Judge: Kristen Fritz, Public Relations, Strategic Marketing, Community Development, Social Networking https://www.eatin-ct.com/
Judge: Jeannette Punsoni Dardenne, Public Relations, Strategic Marketing, Community Development, Social Networking https://www.eatin-ct.com/

“Award Presentation immediately following Boiling Point”

 

For more information contact: Robert Landolphi, Assistant Director Culinary Development at Robert.landolphi@uconn.edu

NACUFS 2017 Loyal E. Horton Dining Award

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We entered Putnam into the 2017 Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards and won Bronze!

Collegiate food service is a demanding profession worthy of recognition. In college and university culinary arts programs, the ultimate professional tribute is the NACUFS Loyal E. Horton Dining Award.

Named for a NACUFS founder, past president, and highly regarded innovator, the Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards celebrate exemplary menus, presentations, special event planning, and new dining concepts, and provide an avenue for sharing ideas and creative presentations in campus dining services.

Enjoy this award-winning dining hall!

NACUFS Gold Medal Award – Best Local Foods Recipe

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We have won GOLD!

NACUFS – National Association of College & University Food Services Best Local Foods Recipe Contest.

Bibimbap Steak and Egg Burrito

The Bibimbap Steak and Egg Burrito was served at our “Food for Thought” Food Truck on campus. We wanted students to experience an item with authentic Korean flavors, but made with local ingredients. Though usually served in a bowl, this hand-held version of Bibimbap is easy to eat while walking across campus. This was a special for a short period and will be available again next fall.

The local ingredients include:

The Beef Shoulder Tender used in our recipe is raised 40 miles from campus at a family-owned farm, Four Mile River Farm http://fourmileriverfarm.com/. They produce grass-fed, antibiotic and hormone-free Angus, Hereford, and Charolais steers.

Asian Pears: Lyman Orchards, Middlefield, CT, located about 30 miles from campus, specializing in producing over seven varieties of pears. http://lymanorchards.com/.

UConn Eggs: UConn Poultry Farm on campus. https://animalscience.cahnr.uconn.edu/poultry-show/

UConn Honey: Apiaries on campus. http://dining.uconn.edu/apiaries/

Garlic, Spinach, Carrots, and Onions: Spring Valley Student Farm, our student-run farm on campus. http://springvalleyfarm.blogspot.com/. UConn students who are members of the Eco House Living and Learning Community can opt to live on Spring Valley Student Farm, where they learn about organic farming during their time enrolled at UConn.

Shitake Mushrooms: Chatfield Hollow Farm, Killingworth, CT, located about 35 miles from campus. http://www.chatfieldfarm.com/