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The Back Page

Cooking Demos

Connect Chefs with Campus Community

BY SONNY COSPER AND ADAM SMITH
ast summer, NC State Dining was looking for ad-
ditional ways to educate our campus community
Lon how they could create healthier, tastier meals
at home — while also promoting the nutritious food we
have available at our dining facilities. To that end, we
introduced a series of cooking demonstrations aimed at
engaging students and staff.
As a result of these events, we found that the interac-
tive nature elevated the influence of our brand on campus.
Each time we posted an event, the spots filled up within
hours, and the feedback after the events was stellar. Many
students and staff now knew our chefs by name and could
see all that goes into creating a fresh, nutritious meal.

TELL THE CULINARY STORY OF YOUR FOOD
Cooking demos give participants a glimpse at the meal Smith Cosper
planning process, from ingredient selection to recipe comple-
tion. As chefs, we have the opportunity to showcase our alleviating participants’ cooking anxiety. They enjoy the guided
preparation methods, and students and staff can learn more experience of seeing a healthy meal come together from basic
about the journey their food takes to get to their plate. By ingredients.
explaining where our dining program sources our ingredients, Getting hands-on experience working with fresh ingredi-
we provide meaningful background information on the meals ents encourages participants to try the recipes at home. We
served in our facilities. Students and staff are excited to learn give each student or staff member a recipe card to take with
more about the food around them and are eager to see the them at the end of the demo, so they’ll be able to make the
work that goes into making the tasty dishes they eat every day. recipe again on their own. By giving them a taste of their own
In telling the culinary story of our food, we’re creating an cooking abilities, we boost their confidence and encourage
enhanced dining experience for our students. participants to explore other healthy cooking methods.

STRENGTHEN CAMPUS RELATIONSHIPS Tips for an Excellent Cooking Demo
Facilitating conversation between students and dining staff If you are thinking about putting together a cooking demo
can be difficult on a day-to-day basis, but it is vital to creating for your dining program, here are a few ways to ensure it’s
a positive customer experience. At cooking demo events, we successful.
get a unique opportunity to discuss any questions or concerns
students or staff may have, while gaining instant customer OFFER A TAKEAWAY ITEM FOR PARTICIPANTS TO BRING HOME.
feedback on our dining facilities, food and service. This al- Something as easy as a jar of dressing or a branded cooking
lows a connection to be established between dining staff and utensil can keep the experience fresh in their mind.
participants and gives program leaders ideas on how to further
improve the dining experience. ENSURE YOUR FINAL PRODUCT IS PICTURE PERFECT.
Hosting these events also gives us a way to promote new or Participants love to post their completed demo meals on
underutilized facets of our program. For example, we hosted social media and having a great looking dish can help promote
one of our demonstrations at the restaurant in our golf course any future cooking demos your dining program has in store.
clubhouse, which many of the participants had never visited.
Many of our participants are now regular guests at this facility. INVOLVE YOUR AUDIENCE.
Getting participants up and working with their hands to
FOSTER A CULTURE OF HEALTH AND WELLNESS create a flavorful final product reinforces the idea that cook-
To some people, cooking healthy meals can be a daunting ing healthy meals is both fun and doable. They’ll be more
task. We have used these demos to show students confident in their cooking abilities and your cooking demo
and staff how to create ap- will be all the more lively.
proachable, nutri-
tious dishes, Sonny Cosper and Adam Smith are executive chefs at North
Carolina State University in Raleigh.
—OCH

22 | OCTOBER 2017 ON-CAMPUS HOSPITALITY