When the COVID-19 pandemic caused a drastic change in the way we all go about our daily lives, it became apparent to Director of Dining Services Dean Masuccio that there would have to be changes to the way students eat on campus when they returned for spring and fall quarter. 

Now, about ten months later, Food Management magazine has named the dining department “Innovator of the Month” for January. 

Assistant Director Denise Payton said that if a student on campus is identified as having COVID-19, they may access the Wellness Delivery Program through the Housing and Residential Life team, where they can use an online ordering system to have food and other general goods such as shampoo and soap delivered to them the next day.

Dining Services has implemented multiple new ideas like the Wellness Delivery Program over the past few months to keep dining safe for students during the pandemic, while also keeping the food that they eat from becoming dull, from pop-up events to mobile ordering.

“The team was very flexible, adaptable,” Masuccio said.

In regards to the award, Masuccio said “I think it validates a lot of the hard work and effort they put in.”

Dining Services started by reducing the menu on campus. The goal of this, according to Executive Chef Joe Ritchie, was to speed up service for those staying on campus.

Ritchie said the department followed an industry trend of focusing on a core menu consisting of fan-favorite items, and then evaluating and modifying the core menu over time. The changes made over the past few months have also served to ensure that the reduced menu does not become stale. 

The department is also hosting multiple pop-up events each quarter. Small food-related events give those interested a chance to eat something they wouldn’t normally be able to order and have a little fun at the same time. 

For example, fall quarter saw a pho night and a wing cook-off, where two chefs made their own chicken wing recipes and students voted on which they preferred. 

This quarter, Dining Services plans on hosting a tamale night, “welcome back” steak night and what Ritchie referred to as “KFC, Kittitas Fried Chicken.”

Another recent addition to the dining scene on campus is mobile ordering. There were plans to implement this system before the pandemic began, but Masuccio said it would have likely taken a couple of years to implement. 

Despite this, the department was able to fast-track it to implementation in time for fall quarter, allowing students to avoid gathering inside dining areas by ordering their food remotely and picking it up when it’s ready. 

With the many changes that have been made over the past few months, feedback, both positive and negative, is especially important. Chef Ritchie urged students to reach out directly to [email protected]. 

“It’s an exciting time to be a student on campus because the dining program has made a lot of progress,” Ritchie said.