Seattle University’s food service, Bon Appetit, is serving up a few changes this year.
Jay Payne, a longtime Seattle resident, will take over as general manager. Buzz Hofford, the former manager, has been promoted within the organization. Payne has six years of experience with Bon App, but this will be his first time working for a university.
“I am coming on board to a system that works pretty well,” Payne said. “We have some changes going on, but I will need to see it going to really see where the needs for change are. We will continue to provide the great food and service that people are used to.”
Bon Appetit Manager Jay Payne.
Bon App offers several different eateries on campus where students can use their meal plans. Bon App prices are comparable to nearby off-campus restaurants. For those students without meal plans, grocery shopping is the way to go as it is generally cheaper than eating out.
“I usually just stay at home and make meals for myself,” said senior Nigel Melling. “It is a lot cheaper, and I can make pretty good meals.”
Upperclassmen living in on-campus apartments, like the Murphy and Douglas apartments, can choose to have smaller meal plans or no meal plan, which allows for some eating flexibility.
“I have a meal plan, but it is not my primary source for food,” said junior Louis Ash-Kaufman.
One change coming to the Hawk’s Nest Bistro, located on the third floor of the Student Center, will be a shift to a more restaurant-style experience. In the past, students ordered food and then retrieved the food themselves after their number was called. To reduce confusion and make the overall process more efficient, the staff will now bring the food to students’ tables.
There will also be a change in the pricing at the Cherry Street Market salad bar. Instead of paying by plate size, students will now pay 49 cents per ounce. Most of Bon App’s accounts already use the pay-by-weight system, and the new system could help to counter the theft problems that Cherry Street has encountered in the past.
Last April, The Spectator reported that Bon App had lost over $100,000 of revenue through theft. One method used by many students was hiding food underneath their salads. Students will no longer be able to do this with the new pricing.
“It seems fair,” said junior Michael Prier. “Now you will actually pay for what you have rather than some specified amount.”
Cherry Street will also be switching to digital menus in an effort to reduce waste. In the past, the daily menus at each food station were printed and displayed on paper. This year, the menus will be digitally displayed on tablets.
Last year there were some changes made to the food offerings at Cherry Street. The build-your-own burrito station was replaced with The Rice Bowl, which provided a quick, easy and popular option for students. This year, the stations will remain the same, but the build-your-own burrito will make its return on weekends.
