Dean Wright, director of Dining Services for 33,000-student Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, gave FSD a tour of several of the foodservice operations on his retail-focused campus.
Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
At the Missionary Training Center, Dining Services feeds 4,500 young men and women who are about to complete their Latter-day Saints mission. The customers are served three meals a day, 365 days a year.
The training center is the largest LDS missionary training center in the world. Missionaries stay at the center for nine weeks in a cloistered environment and do not leave campus. If the missionaries are going to an English-speaking country they stay only two weeks, otherwise they stay the full nine weeks to learn a language. Every Wednesday new groups of missionaries arrive at the center.
Dining Services focuses on very simple food for the missionaries. There are two traditional entrée lines, a salad bar and a wrap station. The cost per meal at the center is 40% less than elsewhere on campus because the department likes to keep things very simple. The concept is based on speed of service since the missionaries have a very limited time to eat.
Since the missionaries do not leave campus, Dining Services provides this small grab-and-go area. It is the only dining area the students do not have to be in missionary dress.
Last summer the campus flower shop was moved to a different building where this space was created. The flower shop is also run by Dining Services. For Valentine's Day 2012 the flower shop created 20,000 bouquets.
There is only one "traditional" dining hall at BYU, The Commons at Canon (except the Missionary Training Center). All other foodservice is retail. On the day FSD visited, the dining hall was promoting Artichoke Week.
BYU uses a "Text& Tell" system, where students can text in feedback and comments about the day's meal. The screen shows what students are saying for everyone to see. This system replaced comments cards, which Wright said could be cumbersome.
A wider look at The Commons at Canon.
The salad and wrap station features a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and prepared salads.
The Exhibition station offers Italian favorites and pasta dishes.
The Euro Kitchen station features international dishes from the East and the West.
A tostada was on the menu at the Euro Station.
A chicken spinach and artichoke pasta, which was menued as part of Artichoke Week.
The Fusion station serves comfort food from around the world.
All c-stores at BYU are branded as The Creamery. The Creamery is also the brand for BYU's ice cream, milk and cheese, which Dining Services makes themselves. Every c-store features the ice cream. Here is The Creamery at Canon.
The Blue Line is a retail location at the Marriott School of Management. The concept is a New York-style deli and market. The New York theme was chosen because of its ties as a financial center, which fit with the fact that the deli is located in the school of management.
The Blue Line's menu includes Nathan's Hot Dogs, sandwiches and comfort items.
There is also a small grab-and-go area at The Blue Line.
Legends Grille, located in the student athletic building, offers food based on bettering athletic performance. Items include sandwiches, pizzas, pastas, burgers and salads—all with a focus on nutrition for performance.
The seating area at Legends Grille.
The Creamery on 9th, one of the larger The Creamery locations, is located inside Dining Services' grocery store. BYU makes about 4,000 gallons of ice cream per week.
The seating area at The Creamery on 9th.
Dining Services purchased the grocery store to offer an added service to the community in an underserved area of town.
The c-stores and the grocery store feature BYU's The Creamery milk and cheese products.
The branded cheese at the grocery store.
The MOA Café is located at the Museum of Art. The café's menu changes in regard to special exhibits that come to the museum. When FSD visited, Dining Services had just opened the cafe to coincide with an Islamic Art exhibition, so the MOA Café was serving halal food such as Middle Eastern platters and pita sandwiches.
MOA Café's chicken shawarma sandwich.
MOA Café grape leaves platter.