5 things: Sodexo unveils some of the dishes it plans to serve athletes at next year’s Paris Olympics

In this edition of 5 Things, Food Management highlights five things you may have missed recently about developments affecting onsite dining.

Here’s your list for today:

 1.    Sodexo provides a glimpse of its Paris Olympic athlete restaurant menu

Sodexo, the company tasked with serving 40,000 meals a day at the Olympic Village when Paris hosts the Summer Olympics next year, unveiled some of the items on the menu of a sit-down restaurant that plans to serve food created by some of France’s most-renowned chefs. Among them were a recipe made of crushed chickpeas with herbs and a smoked fish sauce, an elaborate quinoa risotto and a chocolate mousse with raspberries. The eatery at the Olympic Village, which is meant to be the “biggest restaurant in the world,” is expected to seat 3,500 people. In addition, athletes will have access to “grab and go” food points, including one dedicated exclusively to French cuisine cooked up by chefs, Sodexo said.

Read more: Baguettes but No Wine: Olympians to eat Gourmet in Paris

 2.    Aramark allies with kid-friendly cafe concept Bean Sprouts

Aramark has entered a new national brand agreement with national cafe chain Bean Sprouts, which won an FM Best Concept Award in 2018 for its concept designed especially for family-focused venues with a menu of healthy but kid-friendly meal selections made with creative presentations. The first location is operating at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., where Aramark Healthcare recently began a new contract for clinical nutrition services and patient and retail dining. Bean Sprouts began operating last month as part of the new relationship.

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Read more: Aramark Announces National Brand Agreement with Bean Sprouts to Offer More Healthy Food Options for Kids and Families

 3.    Chartwells celebrates Cinco de Mayo with local-sourced meal in Rhode Island schools

Some 2,600 pounds of beef from three in-state farms was offered at 23 schools across Rhode Island on May 5, the first day that local beef has ever been served in the state of Rhode Island in school lunch," according to Solange Morrissette, district manager for Chartwells, which operates meal service at the participating schools and hosted the local product focused Cinco de Mayo meal. "We have cheese from Narragansett Creamery, and we have Gotham greens, local lettuce, that's going to go on top of our nachos," added Morrissette, "and we have a whole bunch of fresh vegetables from various farms around Rhode Island that we're offering as sides today."

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Read more: Chartwells School Dining Services promotes farm-to-school lunches

 4.    Tufts Med Center teams with local nonprofit on cancer patient meals

Local non-profit Daniel's Table is teaming up with Tufts Medical Center in Massachusetts to get food to people who are going through cancer treatment. "People were coming to the Cancer Care and they were already food insecure and now they have the added challenge of being sick," said Sandra Montesino, executive team member for Daniel's Table, noting that right now there are 22 freezers in Framingham that are full of food for cancer patients, including one at Tufts Medical Center Cancer Care with everything microwave ready.

Read more: Non-profit Daniel's Table teaming up with Tufts Medical Center to get food to cancer patients

 5.    Aramark selling stake in NBA team

Aramark says it has reached a deal to sell half its equity in the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs for about $100 million to an undisclosed buyer. The company had said earlier it was looking to exit its ownership in the Spurs, which dates back to at least 2001, according to an SEC filing by Aramark that year, and doesn’t expect the sale to affect its operations with the team and AT&T Arena.

Read more: Aramark Selling Half of San Antonio Spurs Stake for $100 Million

Bonus: 14 over-the-top plant-based Freakshakes to freak out your summer

Contact Mike Buzalka at [email protected]