Bon Appétit Management Company

• Tweet

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

2024 has been a year of milestones for Bon Appétit Management Company. Our groundbreaking local sourcing program, Farm to Fork, turns 25 years old this year (check out our whitepaper highlighting insights gleaned from our time supporting local food systems). Over the decades, we’ve grown the program to include over 1,700 vendors, some extraordinary partnerships, and a signature annual celebration of local food and the people who bring it to our doors: the Eat Local Challege (ELC), celebrating its 20th year this year!  The ELC challenges our chefs to prepare at least one dish made from 100% local ingredients, down to the fats, spices, and herbs. Everything but the salt must be sourced from within 150 miles of the account.

For ELC’s 20th anniversary, Bon Appétit teams brought their A-game to the fun and delicious celebration of the program, the partnerships, and of course, the food. Teams kept things fresh this year by adding pre-promotional activities, trivia, raffles, and giveaways to engage our guests. Read on to hear about all the friends and flavors that came together for the 20th anniversary of ELC!  

 Northeast 

 

Stonehill College in Easton, MA and Union College in Schenectady, NY both celebrated their first ELC with menus reflecting the highest quality regional ingredients and farm partnerships. In Poughkeepsie, NY, the dining team at Vassar College created a simple, seasonal menu while engaging their core Farm to Fork partners. See their menu here.  

In Bristol, RI, Roger Williams University displayed their annual homegrown raw bar along with locally made hot sauce as a prize for anyone who followed the dining team on social media. Emerson College got into the spirit with ingredients sourced through regional food hub Farm Fresh Rhode Island, transformed into dishes like bulgogi beef tacos and Caprese focaccia.  

Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia also sourced from their local food hub, Lancaster Farm Fresh, and created handmade casarecce pasta with stone ground hard wheat from Castle Valley Mill, an area stone mill that purchases grains from Pennsylvania farms. Yum! 

Salt is the one ingredient exempted from the ELC, but Wesleyan University managed to bring in Maine Sea Salt to season their extensive menu. Check out the full array of vendors and dishes on their Instagram page; know that clam fritters (with clams from Red’s Best) were one of the stars of the show, alongside all-local apple cider floats. 

 

 Midwest 

Rose Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, IN got in on the action, as did Trine University in Angola, IN, whose homey plate featuring Gunthorp Farms pork loin. At the Cleveland Museum of Art, inspiration from a recent conference at F2F partners The Chef’s Garden carried over to ELC dishes like a kale and steak salad and a vivid butternut squash soup. 

Case Western Reserve University celebrated across campus, with special ELC menus in all the dining halls, from tempeh “burnt ends” to maple-glazed squash with caramelized apples and onions. The campus farm helped promote the event — all dining halls purchase produce from CWRU Farm regularly and complete meals with microgreens grown in the microgreen cabinet (!!!) at Fribley Commons in tandem with the farm. 

Andrews University in Berrien Springs, MI pulled out the stops with a lengthy menu that included root vegetable gratin and roasted pumpkin wedges. Check out the full menu here. 

At Best Buy, guests could pick up an elk “Jucy Lucy” burger at Best Buy, whose chefs clearly had fun putting their menus together. Carleton and St. Olaf colleges, both in Northfield, MN, each featured events with raffles and prizes, a market with local vendors, and of course, delicious food from partner farms and producers.  

In Mount Vernon, IA, Cornell College got some great local press for their ELC efforts, with three local media outlets onsite on ELC day. They hosted a small farmers’ market with the Farm to Fork vendors, and students were happy to be able to put a face to the names they recognize from signage in the dining halls throughout the school year. The menu, which included both breakfast and lunch, included a farmers’ frittata and a maple-glazed pork loin with apple and onion chutney. 

South

At Emory University in Atlanta, GA, the team paired a local food trivia game with their 100% local vegetarian feast featuring roasted local oyster mushrooms tossed in house-made buffalo sauce and paired with a potato, pear, and blue cheese gratin and peas in local buttermilk ranch sauce. Oxford College of Emory University showcased beef and pork porchetta with stone-ground grits with gouda and cheddar, paired with produce from the Oxford Organic Farm.

Transylvania University in Lexington, KY created an all-local homage to iconic dishes of the region, including bourbon BBQ-glazed chicken, local sorghum whisked in a vinaigrette and glazed over sweet potatoes, Kentucky hot brown (an open-faced turkey, bacon, and cheese-sauce sandwich), and apple butter pie.  

Savannah College of Art and Design highlighted ELC in all their cafes, with dishes like lion’s mane mushroom “Crabby Patties,” and many menu items featuring different meats from close partner Hunter Cattle Company.  

 

Mountain West 

At a financial services company’s Denver location, an outdoor patio barbequehighlighted short ribs, pork chops, potatoes, corn on the cob, watermelon, and cantaloupe – all from local farm partners. “It was a great way to close out the summer,” said Galexi Pareg, general manager there. “We can’t wait for the next Eat Local Challenge and seeing what our staff will pull off next year!” 

 

Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, CO paired delightful local food with a vendors’ market, giving local farmers the chance to share their stories with students. At the College of Idaho in Caldwell, ID, the COI Eco House provided many vegetables for all of the ELC dishes (along with local partners). In Denver, Conga guests “appreciated the message behind ELC,” says Executive Chef Anthony Cutajar, and they loved the beet and goat cheese salad with grilled local strawberries.  

Colorado College in Colorado Springs celebrated ELC for two days, inviting bakery partner Provision Bread to promote their work with regenerative farms and their presence on campus. The team also presented ELC meals in two dining halls, with dishes featuring an array of Farm to Fork partner ingredients, including an Emerge Aquaponics side salad.  

Pacific Northwest 

The team at the Café at the Gates Foundation in Seattle got great feedback from guests on their dishes, a vegetarian potato rösti and a roast chicken with grilled green beans and farro salad. St. Martin’s University in Lacey, WA highlighted a beautiful steelhead trout over green beans and a leek and corn hash. And at Willamette University in Salem, OR, the menu involved local lamb, Swiss chard, gorgeous foraged lobster mushrooms, and one very excited executive chef (Michael Palmer). 

In Portland, OR, Reed College’s menu included smoked pork over vegetable stew with ingredients from partners like Campfire Farms and Sauvie Island Farms. And at the University of Portland, the team made two dishes and a dessert from the bakeshop to accompany both. They featured Anderson Ranch lamb spare ribs, Tillamook cheesy Bob’s Red Mill polenta, braised Sauvie Island Swiss chard, local marionberry barbeque sauce, and pickled Sauvie Island Growers Jimmy Nardello peppers. Peach crisp with fruit from A&J Orchards was also on the menu!  

At Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA, the team collaborated with longtime partner Frog Hollow Farm and hosted a farmers’ market for the students where they could purchase local vegetables, fruit, and artisan goods. The ELC meal was a beef shepherd’s pie and a bean and lentil shepherd’s pie. The dish included ingredients from 10 different partners!  

 California 

Crave Kitchen at Education First San Diego showcased seared albacore tuna over an all-local salad. Opal basil, shiso, specialty tomatoes, and two kinds of local citrus — truly a meal unique to the area.  At Genentech in South San Francisco, the ELC menu featured duck carnitas tacos with peach and tomato salsa, locally caught lingcod with local vegetables, and roast chicken with sweet potatoes and string beans.  

A transportation technology company based out of Silicon Valley pulled out the stops at their locations around the country. In San Francisco, the team did a full café takeover with 11 recipes at six stations, including dishes like campanelle pasta with squash from Capay Valley Farms and spicy pepper dry-fried lingcod. Culinary Director Dominick Maietta developed a baba ghanoush especially for ELC, which was made in all company locations, uniting the units in celebration of 20 years of this event.  

At Samsung SSI in San Jose, CA, Wellness Manager Sumiya Khan hosted the café’s first Farm to Fork market, giving guests the opportunity to get to know the local companies that supply the café, sample their products, and purchase some to take home. The culinary team went over the top with four stations featuring ELC dishes, including crispy oyster mushroom, tofu and poblano tacos, and smoked tandoori lamb leg wrap with house made tandoori naan and herb chutney. 

We love seeing our San Francisco-area public restaurants like The Hollo and STEM get in on the ELC action. The Hollo featured a roasted lemon-yogurt chicken thigh with assorted vegetables, while guests at STEM enjoyed rock cod tacos with salsa with ingredients from their onsite garden.  

University of San Francisco promoted the ELC at their Fall Market Day the week prior, which boosted participation in the ELC, where seared local halibut and a panzanella salad starred on the menu. At University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA, produce from the student farm was front and center.  

At Santa Clara College, ELC was part of the welcome week for new students and their families. “Families loved the idea of a 100% local meal,” says Merilee McCormick, brand activation manager. In this case, the dish was pan-seared sole or eggplant with ingredients from Vince’s Shellfish, Happy Boys Farms, and Riverdog Farms.  

The Bon Appétit team at California College of the Arts in San Francisco celebrated the bounty of the farm for both lunch and dinner. Executive Chef Andrew Baechler and Sous Chef Brian Lowe created housemade pesto ravioli, which was the star of the show. Lunch in Rocklin, CA at Jessup University’s celebration included a Dungeness crab salad with fennel and citrus, while Pacific Union College in Angwin, CA — where Executive Chef Eddie Jarrell celebrated his 20th ELC — kept things simple and delicious with an heirloom tomato salad and a grain bowl. KKR in San Francisco had fun with local food trivia and a pimento braised lamb dish with local farm accompaniments.  

Kudos to the teams who brought our ELC to life all over the country; we’re eager to see what the next 20 years will bring!  

 

• Eat Local Challenge