Kendal on Hudson hosted this year’s Dining Service Managers annual retreat, held on May 5th and 6th. The retreat was kicked off with flair, with the group touring the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, NY, from which several members of our dining team graduated. For lunch we dined in Ristorante Catarina de'Medici, where the CIA students practiced production of our meal and service with style. The Kendal group was impressed with the creativity of the dining venues and the skills the students are required to learn.

On May 6th the group was treated to a small vendor exhibition sponsored by Sysco of new products that fit the wellness profile for higher fiber and lower sodium. We also looked at china samples from three china companies as several of the affiliates will be changing their china pattern this year.

Other agenda topics included flexible meal plan options, successfully introduced by four of the affiliates this year; strategies for saving, emphasizing group purchasing; updates on Kendal at Hanover’s large remodeling project and Kendal at Lexington’s new Bistro and Restaurant which opened this past year. 

We discussed the role dining plays in Kendal’s strategic plan and shared practices to improve sustainability. For instance, Kendal at Ithaca has started composting; others are offering a reusable take out container to reduce the use of styrofoam as well as planning to offer locally grown produce in the spring and summer seasons. Kendal affiliates continue to adopt new ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.