Laura Heinonen loves working Saturdays at Carson Dining Center.
The University sophomore said Saturday is the best time to catch students sneaking into the dining hall, one of two at the University.
“I caught three last Saturday; I caught three today already and the day is not even over yet,” she said. Heinonen is a roster, which she explained is something like a bouncer. Students living in residence halls must purchase a meal plan that distributes meals to them based on a point system, which they can use throughout the University’s seven dining venues. Because new points are not awarded until Sundays, Heinonen said that students often run low on points Saturday. She said this gives them two choices: Pay $5.25 for lunch ($7.25 for dinner), or risk paying a $25 fine on top of the meal price, and try to sneak their way in.
“They usually try to sneak in through the back door,” Heinonen said. “Catching them is one of the most exciting parts of my job.” Feeding more than 3,000 college students three times a day takes patience, organization and the ability to handle pressure; cleaning up after the 3,000 college students takes even more patience. Heinonen is just one of the 200 students who work for the University of Oregon Housing Dining Services. Many students come to work for dining services without any prior restaurant experience, and they find their jobs to be less stressful — and dirty — than they first imagined.
University Dining Service
John Beaver, who has worked with dining service since 1995, tries to add a personal touch to Carson Dining Hall.
University of Oregon Housing Dining Services runs seven different dining venues on campus. These range from Pizanos Pizzeria, where students can order their own custom pizzas, to the Common Grounds Cafe, a late-night place to drink smoothies and specialty teas and order hot sandwiches. Dining services also provide two cafeterias, one in Carson Hall and one in H.P. Barnhart, where students get three different entree choices in an all-you-can-eat arrangement.
“Because it offers so much flexibility, there will always be a place for places like Carson,” Tom Driscoll, director of food services, said, pointing out that even when faced with choices, students choose to eat at the cafeteria-style restaurants because they offer a wide variety of food and are open long hours. Carson and H.P. Barnhart provide more than half the meals students eat on campus.
Driscoll said the two cafeterias feed between 700 and 900 people a meal. Most of the people preparing the food, working in the kitchens, and serving the food are students. Driscoll estimates that nearly 200 students work for the food service, and they also employ 75 full-time staffers.
“Students like working here because it is very flexible,” he said.
Central Kitchen
The day at the Central Kitchen begins at 5:45 a.m. Bakers, cooks and prep cooks start preparing for the breakfast and lunch crowds across campus. While each unit has its own kitchen, Driscoll estimates that almost three-quarters of the food originates in the Central Kitchen.
“We feed a lot of people,” said Christian Daugenti, a supervising cook at Central Kitchen. Daugenti said he has seen the kitchen become a lot busier in the three years he’s worked there.
Dishwasher Randy Campbell scrubs his way through several hundred pots and pans during a typical shift.
“We are adding a lot of new things to the menu that are a lot more labor-intensive,” he said. “In the past, the cooks prepared much of the menu with prepackaged items Today, much of the food is made from scratch.”
The Central Kitchen only deals with large quantities. For a typical brunch, staffers will make seven gallons of quiche, between 20 to 25 loaves of bread, 80 gallons of ranch dressing, 150 pounds of roasted red potatoes and 25 gallons of macaroni and cheese. On top of that, each individual kitchen may make seven to 10 gallons of eggs.
Hold the cheese
Randy Campbell isn’t too fond of the egg dishes. Campbell, a Lane Community College computer technology student, usually cleans pots and pans in the Carson kitchen. During a usual shift, he may clean more than several hundred pots and pans. The pots and pans come straight from the line where students chose from eggs, quiche, syrup and salads.
“Eggs aren’t as bad as enchiladas,” he said. “But anything with cheese can get pretty bad.”
During his 10 months on the job, Campbell has learned to locate the dirtiest pans first and let them soak in a tub. This will break down the remains cooked to the pan.
“This one’s been soaking awhile,” he said as he grabbed a small hotel pan that once held quiche. He scrubs the bottom and sides of the pan, and the egg remains fall away. He then rinses the small pan in two different rinse tanks and places it on a stainless steel rack to dry.
The line
After students pass the cashier, they may pick up a blue tray, silverware, plates and napkins. They enter a small room in the kitchen to choose between three entrees, such as turkey, broccoli pasta bean salad and Shoyu chicken with pan fried noodles.
Dining room employee John Beaver has been working for dining services since 1995. During those years, he has seen much more dedication to improving food presentation and the dining hall atmosphere.
“We are moving toward keeping the food presentation up to date instead of being an old-fashioned cafeteria where food is plopped onto a plate,” Beaver said.
After grabbing their entrees, students re-enter the dining room. They may head straight for two buffet lines of salad fixings, bread and other hot foods such as soups and vegetables.
Because of the wide variety of food choices, Nick Lindauer likes the pace of the work in the dining room. Often rushing between the dining hall and the kitchen, Lindauer makes sure the two buffet lines are full.
“Out here, we’re busier than on the line,” the junior said.
Last stop
After finishing their meals, students dump leftovers into large food bins. Then they take their dirty dishes to a dish pen to rinse them off and place them on a moving tray.
“I am ‘Queen of the Dishes,’” Jong Mun said as she inspects the dishes after they travel through the large washer. Mun and her partner, Francesca Miller, inspect nearly 1,000 plates and cups for cleanliness, and proclaims most of them come out quite clean.
While Mun said that most students are quite good about rinsing their plates off, some leave their dishes on the table.
“I am not too fond of the typical Caucasian male college student who drops his food all over the counter and leaves his area very messy,” Heinonen, the bouncer, said. She and other dining room staff must clean up the tables after these students.
‘Requiem for Lunch’
As the meal begins to wind down and students start to thin out, the dining staff attempts to break down the food lines and wipe up the tables.
Sweeping the dining area, Waylon Bryson said this slow time is when he slowly drifts off to a happy place far from Carson. The freshman leans back against a table.
“This is when I sing the ‘Requiem for Lunch.’”
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