How one university dining program is luring Taylor Swift fans and more feel-good ideas to borrow

Welcome to Heart of Foodservice, a new weekly series to look forward to. This click-through, mood-boosting, idea-generating tool will help you see the brighter side and pick up some successful ideas that are easy to try, with a big positive impact. You’ll get to check out unique theme events, employees going the extra mile, beloved dishes with history, new menu items, recipes from home, culinary contests and competitions, smarter-not-harder work solutions and more. If you have an idea that’s just too good to keep to yourself, send an email with Heart of Foodservice in the subject line to FSD’s Tara Fitzpatrick tara.fitzpatrick@informa.com

College operators are taking note of Gen Z’s preference for lower-key experiences with celeb chefs. At Northwestern University in Chicago, students celebrated Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Heritage Month with Chef Jet Tila, who, over several days, worked in small groups via “walk-up and go” style teaching kitchens and special workshops to teach students and staff how to make dishes from his cookbook "101 Asian Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die," including his favorite dipping sauces: nuoc cham, gochujang, sriracha mayo and wasabi mayo.  

The Cura team at Marion Health in Indiana celebrated National Nurses Week by making 840 cake pops in hospital colors with a heartbeat design and labels that read: “Just wanted to POP by and say thank you for being such a great nurse.”

Student birthdays are a big deal at The Arkansas School for Math, Sciences and the Arts in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Aladdin foodservice/Lexington Independents foodservice team and Baker Teresa Hall bake up personalized cakes and cupcakes, like these Avatar-themed goodies.

General Manager Liz Nepute (pictured) and the Sodexo team at Cal Lutheran Dining Services at California Lutheran University are in their pop star/fun food era with an event inspired by global superstar singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The event featured “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” Wings, a “Getaway Car” condiment bar and signature mocktails “Lavendar Haze” Lemonade and “Champagne Problems” Apple Cider. According to students, the event was “iconic” and “slayed.” That sums it up!

When feeding kids, one must embrace the process of trial and error. Pasadena (Texas) Independent School District (PISD)’s PISD Nutrition Services has been working on some new menu items with research and development; tinkering with recipes and ingredients, and finally sharing the results with always-honest kids. Coming soon: Banh mi sandwiches, chicken and sausage jambalaya and barbacoa quesadillas.