Country House Restaurant Paul Boundas Chefs and Independent Restaurants Joining With Schools: A Sustainable Community Approach
Great Things Happening Chefs In Many Schools Leaders Coming To The Forefront Many Of Them Here! Commodities Becoming Real Again Lets Move! Initiative Communities Reuniting
What Do Chefs And Independent Restaurants Have In Common? Passion Dedication Commitment To Customers And Community Care Creativity Pride Of Product Great Real Food! Debt!?
Strengths Protecting And Rebuilding A Great American Food Culture Regional Diversity Community Based And Personally Invested
Personal Journey Masters in Clinical Psychology Continued on to Culinary School Country House Restaurant: Host and Manager 10 years Restaurant Purchase: 5 years ago Our Family Passion
Personal Journey
Country House Restaurant (1972-Present) Family Restaurant Model- Becoming a home to our customers Foods made from scratch Quality ingredients Customer service stressed Establishing Relationships (Employees and Customers) Support and work closely with Schools/Churches/Community Orgs. Give more than you take and let everyone participate
School Programs (2002-Present) Run Like Our Restaurant Opportunity at Morgan Park Academy( 550 Students)-Elite School My wife and Myself Difficulty shaking boutique status- 5 years later second contract 2007 St. Rita H.S. (750 Students) 2008 Success and word of mouth: Marian Catholic (1600 students) 2009 Mount Carmel (850 Students) 2010 Holy Trinity (297 students) 2011 Mount Assisi (210 students) 2011-2012 Brother Rice High School (900 students)
Our Chef In Every School Model The Country House Family Restaurant Version Community Based Cutting Edge Stuff: In 4,000 BC
Throwback
Why not run it like our Restaurant? Customer Service- Treat students as valued customers Listen to their likes and dislikes Make all foods fresh on site Use all the resources at our disposal to cut costs and increase Quality, Taste and Nutrition Let the students participate in the kitchen and its food Enrich the school and the community! Become a Family Member
Our Philosophy Many small restaurants and Chefs getting involved creates more opportunities. No desire to run all the schools ourselves. Focused on the customer and quality versus profit Real, Whole, Fresh Ingredients Vs. processed and frozen Drawing students and staff Vs. relying on a captive audience Ownership involved in direct production Creativity driven vs. mass production
Our Philosophy Programs Need To Be Customized Based On Individual Differences Flexibility Vs Rigidity (Willing To Change On A Dime And Listen) Enrich The School Vs Make A Profit From The School Advertise With Word Of Mouth And Quality Vs Spending Money Which Comes Out Of Costs (We Don t Need To Advertise In A Cafeteria - Word Of Mouth Travels In A Nanosecond In A School Cafeteria) Pride To Be In Front Of Our Customer and Our Product
Take The Holy Trinity Challenge Can Our Model Work?
Demographics- HOLY TRINITY Chicago Inner City 297 Enrolled Students 47% Hispanic 45% African American 5% Multi-Racial/Other 2% Caucasian
% On National School Lunch and Breakfast Program HOLY TRINITY BY CATEGORY FOR BREAKFAST AND LUNCH 78% FREE 15% 15% REDUCED 7% PAID
Results And Success
Participation Volume is key: We need to serve as many as possible (Again 93% are Eligible). Only reimbursed for served meals Breakfast participation is lower as not all students arrive to school early
Breakfast 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 26% 40% Average Percent of Students Served Complete Meal (Based on Actual Attendnce) 2009 2010
Lunch 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 70% 84% Average Percent of Students Served Complete Meal (Based on Actual Attendnce) 2009 2010
Excitement and Anecdotal evidence Jump in breakfast participation HUGE as students are choosing to come earlier Student comments-(not Complaining) Monica Eng - Chicago Tribune Article & Visit Confidence to try new foods Students participating in wellness program and cooking Faculty reports: students are happier in cafeteria If the students did not like the food, our participation numbers would go down. Reality: they are way up!
Financial No Money, No Model!
Total Sales Up Through Dec. 2009 $80,521 Through Dec. 2010 $86,185 (despite having 50 fewer students) Increased Participation: because students value meals Staff Participation
Food costs are down (Quality up) Through December 2009 Food Costs $51,215 or 64% Through December 2010 Food Costs $34,844 or 40% EXAMPLES-There are always cheaper fresh items available. Take out the processor you don t have to pay them! 55lb Bag of Dried Beans= $20 Creates the equivalent of $200 of Canned and Processed Beans 25lb Fresh Broccoli $13.00 Frozen=$20 Fresh Chicken Breast Pounded and breaded by us=$0.35 Same size processed and formed =$0.69 Homemade Pizza-Dough with whole wheat flour & homemade sauce: By us: $0.44 per serving vs $1.85 Frozen and processed pre made
School Out Of The Red! Through December 2009 Loss= ($21,060) Through Dec. 2010 EXCESS= $22,531 or 26% 2010: It took us 6 school days in August to become profitable after factoring for start-up equipment and supply expenditures.
Fresh Food Is Too Expensive?!! Holy Trinity Lunch Specials 6 CORN MEAL CRUSTED FISH with VEGETABLE AND COLLARD GREEN PASTA 7 WHOLE GRAIN SPAGHETTI WITH HOMEMADE MEATBALLS AND FRESH GARLIC BREAD 8 CHICKEN BURRITO W/ Mexican Rice and Beans Fresh Salsa-Sour Cream 9 WELLNESS COMMITTEE CHOICE 10 HOMEMADE PIZZA With Rice and Beans And Side Salad 13 THAI CHICKEN With FRESH VEGETABLES AND STIR FRIED NOODLES 14 JERK CHICKEN BREAST WITH MASHED SWEET POTATOES AND JAMAICAN Rice 15 FRESH GROUND BEEF SOFT SHELL TACOS With Mexican Brown Rice Fresh Salsa-Sour Cream 16 GREEK ROAST CHICKEN WITH RICE PILAF (Brown Rice) And Greek Salad 17 HOMEMADE PIZZA
Meal Breakdowns JERK CHICKEN BREAST NO COMMODITIES 4oz Chicken Breast $.39 Fresh Sweet Pot(4oz).$.15 Jamaican Brown Rice(4).$.20 Jerk Sauce..$.10 Fresh Melons..$.15 Food Cost $.99 Paper Goods..$0.15 LABOR...$.93 TOTAL=$2.07 REIMBURSEMENT $2.74 PROFIT $.67 HOMEMADE PIZZA NO COMMODITIES 3oz Cheese.. $.36 Tomato Sauce $.04 Whole Grn or Reg Dough$.06 Topping....$.10 Side Salad.$.15 Rice and Red Beans.. $.20 Sliced Apples.$.15 Food Cost $1.06 Paper Goods..$0.15 LABOR...$.93 TOTAL=$2.14 REIMBURSEMENT $2.74 PROFIT $.60 GREEK CHICKEN COMMODITIES Cut up Chicken $.05 Greek Potatoes..$.15 Green Beans Briam.$.05 Fruit Cups...$.02 Food Cost $.27 Paper Goods..$0.15 LABOR...$.93 TOTAL=$1.35 REIMBURSEMENT $2.74 PROFIT $1.39
How It Benefits Everyone School Community Students Chef Restaurant Health/MD Farmers
School And Students Educational opportunity for students and school. Culinary programs back in schools that do not need external funding. Obesity, Diabetes and Health Care Costs Reduced Happier, Healthier Students Empowerment of the students
Independent Restaurant And Chefs Instant Jobs For Chefs- Huge Potential Passionate Restaurants stay open! Optimally run by skilled, passionate individuals Labor and skill intensive Requires creativity and flexibility to use resources wisely. Better operated with customer satisfaction vs. maximum profits Cannot support a top heavy business model.
The Community And Food System Shift from processed foods to fresh. Promoting diversity in foods and supporting farmers and farm to school. Creates many good jobs and opportunities for passionate businesses that are invested. Keeps money in the community Reduces Health Care Costs
How it helps Country House Stabilizing force of our business. Increased Catering Expand business without major risk. Business on traditionally slower times: weekdays Draws business to restaurant Over 5,500 extra customers a day can t hurt!
Presenting: Country House. Real Food Is Always Better Cooked On Site!
Makings Of A Philly Steak Sandwich
Thai Stir Fry
Greek Chicken Pita
Whole Grain Spaghetti Bolognese
Pizza Day
Students Of Holy Trinity Addressing Harvard s Dr. David Eisenberg Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives
Culinary/Wellness Club Mother s Day Dinner
THE KITCHEN A Healthy Hearth To Bring A Community/Family Together!!
The Students Of Holy Trinity Addressing Doctors From Harvard s Dr. David Eisenberg Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives
Community Night Pictures Students in Kitchen Etc lemonade
Research Possibilities Look at Before and After implementation with student health. Relationship with GPA and academic success Long Term Effects on Diet Long Term Prevention of Disease Effects on Culinary Careers CURRENT RESEARCH- Holy Trinity, Country House/WellBeingMD, Dr. Eisenberg to follow students in terms of BMI Along with Dr. Eisenberg we are also working towards showing its reproducibility by using testable, reproducible, research experiments
Commodities/Resources In The Usa
Commodities Free to Schools (Based on Meals Served) Monthly Shipment (Pay Freight Only) Whole and Processed Available (Schools Choose) Order a year out Next Year more whole ingredients and whole grains Examples Peanut Butter Pasta Rice Tuna and Chicken FRENCH FRIES!
How Did This Become A Commodity? Currently Whole Commodities are also diverted to processors and then sold to schools for a large markup. Excluding the Commodity-not the processing. Meet: The Chicken Patty
Beige is not a healthy color for food
Food In Other Programs
Food In Other Programs