Pilot Cafe Opens
Written by Izzy B. ‘27
I am sure by now that you have heard about the new Pilot Cafe at SJND that opened this past month. In Father Kim’s “Feel Good, Eat Good, Be Good” plan, he describes the Pilot Cafe as “a way to provide our students and staff with delicious food that is tasty and healthy. We will be cooking hot food on campus and have a variety of snacks, a la carte items, drinks, and entrees for purchase each day before school, during lunch, and after school in Notre Dame Hall.” The Pilot Cafe has been a massive success in providing accessible, healthy food for the school, but there are still some challenges with the new food service. I interviewed a variety of people involved to get their perspectives on how things are going.
Father Kim, the main innovator of this plan, had a few things to say about the Pilot Cafe when I interviewed him. He says that he instituted the Pilot Cafe because he “wanted students to have a high school cafeteria experience with healthy food. During lunchtime [before the Pilot Cafe] the students would not eat a healthy lunch or would just not eat lunch at all. Part of my motivation for the Pilot Cafe was to have the students interact more, which happens with food uniting people’s interests.”
He describes that he had some suggested menu options from his friends who have been making cafeteria food for many years, like chicken tenders and pizza. He was also told to mix it up and provide a variety of meals, which is why there is a meal of the day everyday. And most importantly, he makes sure that the food going into the students’ bodies is made thoroughly and is healthy. Even if you just think this is a regular school lunch, there are many things that Father Kim had to do to execute the right foods that appeal to the vast student body and that are nutritious.
Now that there is improvement in the food available at school there is high demand at lunch. Many students rush to the cafeteria, and thus a seemingly endless line forms to get your food. This is a big problem, because if you are in Marianist or far away from the Cafe when the bell rings, you might have to miss a quarter to half of your lunch time waiting in line, instead of eating and interacting with your friends. In response to this problem, Father Kim has tried his best to shorten the line and have the students all get their lunch as fast as possible. He says that when you start out a new venture (the Pilot Cafe), there are always going to be kinks that you have to work out, and the line is one of them. To address this, he has added an extra register, fixed glitches in the checkout computer, trained students to help with the catering, and had students memorize their ID number so that they can get their food as quickly as possible and then get out of the line.
These new solutions have worked wonders, and even though there is still a sizable line, it takes much less time to get your hot, fresh, healthy food. The comment with which Father Kim concluded our interview was that the two chefs, Ashanti and Porforio, are very open to ideas and would like to be involved in student life like BSU and Filipino to bring food of that culture into the Cafe menu. They can also help teach cooking to the Culinary Club. Overall, Father Kim is delighted with how the Pilot Cafe is going and is excited to see how it develops year after year.
I interviewed two students, Ella and Sean, and asked them about their thoughts on this topic. Overall, they both like the Cafe, but have a few problems with it. They both expressed displeasure with the “extremely long line” which has deterred them from using the Cafe more often. Even though the long line is a con, they both prefer the Pilot Cafe over the old cafeteria school lunch. Ella says that the food quality has gone up while the price has gone down, and Sean says there are more food options for a wide variety of different students (vegetarian, gluten-free, etc.).
As mentioned above, two new chefs, Ashanti and Porfirio, were hired to cook for SJND students. I got to talk to one of the two chef’s, Ashanti, about her experience so far working at the Cafe. Ashanti has been cooking all her life. She started in fast food, had some restaurant service, and just moved to the SJND area from Texas where she was a food supervisor at Baylor Scott and White hospital and Ascension Seton. Ashanti explained that it has been fun and challenging. She says the fun part is she gets to interact with students and faculty, but it has also been challenging trying to start a new venture.
She also took me through a typical day at the Pilot Cafe. She describes that she comes in at 6 am every day. She and her co-chef, Porfirio, start prep for breakfast (cut up fruit, put out fresh pastries and breakfast burritos) to start the day. Between 7:30 to 10:30 is her time to get lunch done. She pre-pans (prepares) everything for the oven. Then she starts on the main entree and vegetarian entree. After that, she prints out the menu by 11:15. Finally, during the last 20 minutes, she makes sure that the Cafe has all they need (juices, snacks, napkins, utensils) before opening at 11:35.
To most, the Pilot Cafe is an improvement from the old school lunch, besides a few kinks that are in the process of being worked out. Once these problems are eliminated, the students will have more time to socialize and eat with one another. The right school lunch can give you energy to focus, help you do your best in class, and bring you and your friends together to bond over a meal. The wrong school lunch can do the opposite. Food is what brings us together, no matter how different we are. We always want to eat, and the Pilot Cafe can provide that and so much more. Next time you walk past the Pilot Cafe (Notre Dame Hall), I encourage you to try one of their healthy or tasty foods, because even with a long line, it is worth the wait!
