Cougars Chow Down

The Cougar Café is now open for lunch.

Last year’s classroom for dance and sports medicine is now the focus of food service at Albany High. Matching tables and seats line the room. A food service counter and salad bar stand ready for service.

At the old lunch shelter, food had to be packaged a few hours before serving. The Cougar Café has a salad bar with fresh ingredients and serves food hot from the oven.

However, the first few days of school there was no gas, so no hot-off-the-grill meals.

“It’s like opening a restaurant, but you don’t have the food you want to serve,” remarked Chef Clell Hoffman. The issue is resolved now and the real cooking has begun.

“I heard one student say, ‘wow, we’re like a real high school now,’” Chef Hoffman chuckled. Having a professional-looking setup and a high quality operation clearly boosts students’ sense of legitimacy.

Custodian Norvell Harrison said, “I think it’s beautiful, a lot of room, a lot of kids.”

Ywai Man, a taciturn cafeteria staff member, summed it up quite well: “The café is beautiful…too much food for you students.”

Until this summer, a portable left from the new school construction housed food service

With the demolition of the pool the lunch shelter had to go. Chef Hoffman used money from the pool project to purchase about $90,000 worth of cafeteria appliances and furnishings that we see today.

“Clell did a real beautiful job on it,” enthused cafeteria staff member Patty.

Students separate into three lines to efficiently purchase their meals, with one line specializing in salads and sandwiches. The lines have been moving relatively quickly for such a new routine, but there are a few things students can do to speed it up.

•Stay focused when in line.
•Have your menu choices in mind, avoid asking questions about the selection.
•Have your money ready, or know your ID number if you are using an account
•When it’s your turn, tell the staff what you want without being prompted.
•Speak clearly and loudly.
•When you purchase a sandwich, salad, or main course of the day, by law you must take milk, fruit, or a small fruit juice. You can also choose milk and fruit or milk and juice. Tell the staff your choice without being prompted.

For those that don’t like lines, the flow of students slows around 20-25 minutes after lunch begins.

The staff try to estimate quantities so that there are no leftovers or very few. Leftovers are given to the AMS lunch program or incorporated into tomorrow’s menu.

The cafeteria is understaffed. Originally, leadership students were to volunteer with the lunch staff to help ASB raise funds. However, their payment could not be cleared at the district level. Chef Hoffman has hired student helpers to assist with lunch service for the semester. They will receive paychecks for half an hour of work a day.

212 students ate on Monday, an unusually high number so early in the year. The numbers went down later in the week, but Chef Hoffman hopes to keep up the improvements to beat last year’s average of 165. The Cougar Café provides students an indoor place to eat, which many will appreciate more once the weather turns.

The chef has arranged for more music to play during lunch, courtesy of the AHS sound crew. He also has high hopes for getting some 65” plasma screens to show off student video productions and general entertainment. That will take a lot of support and fundraising. Chef Hoffman may have to settle for LCD projectors this year. Another creative aspiration involves art students making a mural on the walls.

Chef Hoffman always has health, nutritional quality, and student satisfaction in mind. He welcomes suggestions to improve lunching at school and support for the school lunch program.

Photo Credit: Jeff Cooper

Cougars waiting in line for chow.

No comments yet.

Leave a Comment

All comments are moderated. If your comment contains profanity or libelous content, please don't waste our time.

Name: Some basic HTML allowed

Your comment will be posted when it is approved.