Week #3 Retail Dining/Barista & Brella Training/Hallmark Field Trip

What’s that you say? A grande Crimson and Blue Tiramisu Latte?......Comin’ right up!

That’s right, Leslie and I went through the training, took the practical and written tests (yes, there were multiple), and now we are certified baristas! This took two full 8 hour days of steaming (and sometimes scorching) milk, pulling fresh shots of espresso, spooning out a good frothy foam and learning about the beans that KU purchases from The Roasterie in Kansas City. As well as becoming a certified barista, we also became “Certified Artisans of Brellas”. Brellas is a KU original self operated concept that makes delicious wraps and sandwiches. After two days of hands on training and work at Brellas, I have the technique of making the famous “Crunchy Chicken Cheddar Wrap” down pat. 

The Market

The Market is the retail location where we spent the majority of our “retail dining week”. The Market is made up of a blend of both Self-Branded and Licensed retail concepts which include”

·      Fresco—rotating menu of world flavors

·      Boulevard Grill—burgers and more

·      Quesarito—quesadillas, burritos and taco salads

·      Brellas—made to order artisan wraps and sandwiches

·      Pizza Hut

·      Sushi with Gusto

·      Corner Bakery

·      Fresh Fare—wide-ranging selection of salads, soups and snacks

We worked with Keith Lake and learned about the differences between self-branded and licensed concepts. It was awesome to see the amount of creativity and work that goes into building a retail concept from scratch—very impressive. 

Sports Dietitian:

            This week we also got to meet and visit with the Sports Dietitian located at the athletic training center at the University of Kansas, Aaron Carbuhn, MS, MS, RD, LD, SCCC (yes...he has two masters degrees!). Aaron was very knowledgeable and had an obvious passion for helping the Jayhawk athletes increases performance. 

     His day is filled with:

• Individual counseling sessions
• Customized meal plans
• Body composition assessment and monitoring
• Dietary supplement evaluations
• Team fueling workshops
• Travel nutrition planning
• Grocery store tours
• Cooking Demonstrations

Hallmark:

            Lastly, on Friday of this week Barb set up another awesome experience. We got an insider tour of the foodservice department at the corporate Hallmark center in Kansas City. They had so many deliciously delightful ideas on how to incorporate health and wellness in a corporate foodservice program.