Food service staff overcome glitches, get cozy with equipment
Whitney A. Stewart
Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: News
In the month since Saga, Inc., staff donned aprons and berets in AJ's Cafe; and Knorr Family Dining Room, managers have had to teach old and new employees to make curly fries and stir fries using new kitchen equipment.
Employees say hectic moments during the first days in Grewcock Student Union are giving way to comfortable rhythms running cash registers, tending skillets and brewing espresso.
"It was baptism by fire in some respects," General Manager Kevin Kirwan said.
Increases in customer traffic, job descriptions and an additional 36 serving hours per week in the café also led managers to hire additional staff. Kirwan said he added at least eight part-time, non-student workers and about 175 student hours per week to his kitchen crew, a 25 percent increase. And AJ's now employs 35, more than double the number that worked at the snack bar.
With no time to ease into full-swing operations - carpenters filled nail holes the day the union opened - food service employees and students explored the new dining hall and café together. Meal preparation moved from Curtiss Memorial Dining Hall to its new location between lunch and dinner Jan. 19.
Kirwan said because students typically work few shifts per week, he trained kitchen staff every day for the first several weeks to ensure they attained competent comfort at their posts.
"It's starting to pay off because it's starting to catch on," he said.
At AJ's, Diane VanHorn supervises the day shift and trains new student employees at every semester's beginning. This semester, the new location, new equipment and larger number of new workers made training an extra hurdle she said her staff is overcoming.
Sophomore Hannah Regan started working at AJ's in January. She said it took a few days to "smooth out a lot of details" and that employee training sessions covered running the cash register, ringing up purchases and making coffee drinks.
"At first it was disjointed and everybody got told different things," she said. "But we've had training and it's got a lot better."
Employees say hectic moments during the first days in Grewcock Student Union are giving way to comfortable rhythms running cash registers, tending skillets and brewing espresso.
"It was baptism by fire in some respects," General Manager Kevin Kirwan said.
Increases in customer traffic, job descriptions and an additional 36 serving hours per week in the café also led managers to hire additional staff. Kirwan said he added at least eight part-time, non-student workers and about 175 student hours per week to his kitchen crew, a 25 percent increase. And AJ's now employs 35, more than double the number that worked at the snack bar.
With no time to ease into full-swing operations - carpenters filled nail holes the day the union opened - food service employees and students explored the new dining hall and café together. Meal preparation moved from Curtiss Memorial Dining Hall to its new location between lunch and dinner Jan. 19.
Kirwan said because students typically work few shifts per week, he trained kitchen staff every day for the first several weeks to ensure they attained competent comfort at their posts.
"It's starting to pay off because it's starting to catch on," he said.
At AJ's, Diane VanHorn supervises the day shift and trains new student employees at every semester's beginning. This semester, the new location, new equipment and larger number of new workers made training an extra hurdle she said her staff is overcoming.
Sophomore Hannah Regan started working at AJ's in January. She said it took a few days to "smooth out a lot of details" and that employee training sessions covered running the cash register, ringing up purchases and making coffee drinks.
"At first it was disjointed and everybody got told different things," she said. "But we've had training and it's got a lot better."
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