Best New Facility: Bruin Plate, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)

Bruin Plate is the second cutting edge dining hall opened at UCLA in the past three years, following the all-Asian FEAST at Reiber, which won a Best Concept Award in 2012. The 900-seat residential restaurant sports seven exhibition and self-serve food stations that collectively serve a menu focused on fresh, wholesome and nutritionally balanced options while following best practices in foodservice.

Stations include Freshly Bowled (customized one-bowl meals), Stone Fired (artisan flatbreads), Farm Stand (seasonal/local/organic farm products), Harvest (breakfast items, salads, wraps and entrée plates made with farm/field-fresh ingredients) and Greens & More (customized salads).

The venue design incorporates floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic views of the campus, a "California Fresh" ambiance with sustainable materials and California-themed art and plants and high-tech touches like digital menu screens, a state-of-the-art sound system and low-energy programmable lighting.

After its opening for the winter 2014 semester, Bruin Plate drew 15% of lunch and 19% of dinner traffic among UCLA dining halls. It also garnered almost universal praise, with 92% of guests saying they would recommend it to friends and colleagues.

Project Team:

Daryl Ansel
Director of Food & Beverage
Alex Macias
Assistant Director
Guadalupe Morales
General Manager
Joanne McGill
Assistant Director-Business Services
Craig St. Louis
Associate Director-Plant/Space/Equipment
Kevin Aiello
Executive Chef
Roger Pigozzi
Assistant Director/Global Executive Chef
Jorge Noriega
R&D Chef
Dolores Hernandez
Dietician
Lynley Fleak
Menu Development Coordinator
Elizabeth Rendon
Interior Designer
Jan Gonzalez
Associate Director-Marketing
Minh Q. Ly
Principal Graphic Designer
Stephanie Snipes
Website Developer