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New UK dining center emphasizes local ingredients

Mike Buzalka, Executive Features Editor

February 9, 2018

13 Slides
New UK dining center emphasizes local ingredients

Champions Kitchen, opened in January on the campus of the University of Kentucky (UK), brims with 10 food stations offering everything from all-day breakfast and deli to Delicious Destinations and its weekly rotation of ethnic cuisines like Indian, Cajun and Asian ramen bowls. Also part of the mix is Worry Free, which exclusively menus selections free of common food allergens, gluten, shellfish, tree nuts and peanuts.

The all-you-care-to-eat dining center, one of two on campus, has also made the serving of locally produced and sourced products a priority, with a reported one-third of proteins in its dishes meeting that standard.

Part of a new Student Center complex that is still under construction, Champions Kitchen represents another step in the upgrading of dining on the UK campus by management company Aramark, which signed a 15-year deal with the university in 2014.

Photos courtesy of UK Dining/Aramark

Read more about:

Aramark

About the Author

Mike Buzalka

Executive Features Editor, Food Management

Mike Buzalka is executive features editor for Food Management and contributing editor to Restaurant Hospitality, Supermarket News and Nation’s Restaurant News. On Food Management, Mike has lead responsibility for compiling the annual Top 50 Contract Management Companies as well as the K-12, College, Hospital and Senior Dining Power Players listings. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English Literature from John Carroll University. Before joining Food Management in 1998, he served as for eight years as assistant editor and then editor of Foodservice Distributor magazine. Mike’s personal interests range from local sports such as the Cleveland Indians and Browns to classic and modern literature, history and politics.

Mike Buzalka’s areas of expertise include operations, innovation and technology topics in onsite foodservice industry markets like K-12 Schools, Higher Education, Healthcare and Business & Industry.

Mike Buzalka’s experience:

Executive Features Editor, Food Management magazine (2010-present)

Contributing Editor, Restaurant Hospitality, Supermarket News and Nation’s Restaurant News (2016-present)

Associate Editor, Food Management magazine (1998-2010)

Editor, Foodservice Distributor magazine (1997-1998)

Assistant Editor, Foodservice Distributor magazine (1989-1997)

 

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