Bon Appétit Management Company

Located in the heart of ranching country, Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA, is proud to support the work of grass-based ranchers like Cheryl and Robert Cosner of Upper Dry Creek Ranch.

Whitman Executive Sous Chef Julie Zumwalt, Dining Manager Susan Todhunter, and I recently had a chance to visit the Cosners. We stood between two grassy hills dotted with heritage apple trees in the foothills of the Blue Mountains in Weston, OR, where the Cosners raise lamb and beef on 2,200 acres of certified organic grassland.

Simply taking the time to take care of yourself and eat mindfully is calming and beneficial to your health. For this month’s Well Being Challenge, we encourage you to try eating without distractions (no computers, phones, television, etc.) once a day for one week. Share your journey of mindful eating by posting comments about your experiences or photos of meals and snacks that you ate mindfully on our Facebook page wall. Here is a recipe with stress-reducing properties to get your started on your path to mindful eating.

Patrick McElroy, executive chef of the Danforth University Center of Washington University in St. Louis, got to do some cooking for pint-size customers recently. Patrick was invited by the director of the Clayton School District to be guest chef for the day for a group of elementary school children. The idea was to help make positive changes to promote nutrition.

Simply taking the time to take care of yourself and eat mindfully is calming and beneficial to your health. For this month’s Well Being Challenge, we encourage you to try eating without distractions (no computers, phones, television, etc.) once a day for one week. Share your journey of mindful eating by posting comments about your experiences or photos of meals and snacks that you ate mindfully on our Facebook page wall. Here is a recipe with stress-reducing properties to get your started on your path to mindful eating.

A month or two ago, the Shepherd’s Grain farmers were just finishing their harvest, climbing off their combines after a long season. This year in the Pacific Northwest, we may have had a disappointing late spring and mild summer for beach-goers, but it was just cool and rainy enough to pamper the wheat fields. And a high yielding season is not only great for the farmers, but also for all of us. Our relationship is not bran deep. Bon Appétit Management Company throughout the Pacific Northwest partners with Shepherd’s Grain to create our from-scratch pizza dough, bread, and pastries. Bon Appétit at Seattle University, for example, goes through 1,550 pounds of Shepherd’s Grain flour a week to feed lunch-going students, faculty, and staff!

Simply taking the time to take care of yourself and eat mindfully is calming and beneficial to your health. For this month’s Well Being Challenge, we encourage you to try eating without distractions (no computers, phones, television, etc.) once a day for one week. Share your journey of mindful eating by posting comments about your experiences or photos of meals and snacks that you ate mindfully on our Facebook page wall. Here is a recipe with stress-reducing properties to get your started on your path to mindful eating.

More than 60 cultural institutions across Southern California have come together to tell the story of the birth of the Los Angeles art scene through the exhibition Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980. The Bon Appétit team at the Getty Center in Los Angeles had the creative pleasure of catering the show’s opening celebration, which was attended by 1,500 artists, cultural and civic leaders, and area residents.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, so is that day when the feast is over and the guests have gone home – and you have a giant dish full of leftover turkey sitting in the refrigerator. Sure, you could make turkey sandwiches — the classic way to use up leftovers — but the Bon Appétit team at Cisco-San Jose in San Jose, CA, has some more creative ideas. Since guests often ask for recipes from the chefs, this holiday season the team proactively provided customers with ideas of how to get the most out of their Thanksgiving meal.

In certain circles, some farmers are as famous as rock stars. Bon Appétit Farm to Fork partner Al Courchesne of Frog Hollow Farm in Brentwood, CA, is one of them. Renowned Berkeley, CA, restaurateur Alice Waters has been known to serve his O’Henry peaches, Rainier cherries, Goldensweet apricots, and Warren pears unadorned for dessert at Chez Panisse. To learn why, I organized a tour of Al’s farm along with a group of 50 faculty members, staff, students, and Bon Appétit Sous Chef Cheylin Hale from Mills College in Oakland, CA.

By Kristen Rasmussen, MS, RD For this month’s Well Being Challenge, we encourage you to replace an unhealthy saturated fat or refined carbohydrate with a healthy unsaturated fat source once a day for one week. Demonstrate your commitment to embracing healthy fats in your diet by posting photos or comments about your healthy fat substitutions on our Facebook page wall. Here’s a recipe to get you started.  Walnut-Sage Pesto Makes 1 cup