The 2012 Best Concept Awards winners named

Best Renovation, Station Concept

Best Renovation
KBT Café at Yale University

Opened Aug. 29, 2011, in the lobby of the Kline Biology Tower, the tallest building on campus, the KBT Café has three integrated platforms (coffee/bakery, hot/cold entrée sandwich/soup bar, deconstructed salad concept). It has a sophisticated international coffee menu/program complete with equipment for small batch roasting and hand-crafted single-cup extraction.

The new KBT is an appealing food/socialization destination that supports multi-disciplinary interaction and communication, and is targeted to Yale’s science community, which is concentrated on this end of the campus. The Tower was originally designed by noted architect Philip Johnson and opened in 1966 and renovating its space entailed many technical and historic preservation constraints.

The renovation was recognized for its spectacular, colorful design and its variety of vibrant serving stations.

Best Station Concept
Restaurant Associates, for “Kathi Rolls and Bowls”

Inspired by the street food vendors in Kolkata, India, and introduced in fall 2011, this program features paratha breads wrapped around a variety of ingredients and garnished with authentic condiments.

Designed as an action station, it serves meat dishes such as Chicken Tikka Masala and vegetarian dishes such as Alu Chole (a third protein is added in larger accounts). The guest has the option of getting the protein served rapped in paratha bread or over basmati rice and then chooses a side. The program has a low food cost and high profit margin because the ingredients are not high-end cuts of meat or expensive products

The program offers an impressive combination of authentic variety and value,  demonstrating low food costs and high margins because most ingredients have a modest cost or are secondary protein cuts.

Best Management Company Corporate Concept
Sodexo Campus Services’ “FoD” (Food on Demand) program

FoD was developed to fill the void/niche of the small residential dining footprint and is an end-to-end program that brings a made-to-order restaurant experience to college campuses, complete with ordering technology and a refined menu.

Customers order using touch screen kiosks that show photos of menu items and accompanying nutritional content, allowing them to specify how and when they want the food prepared; they can also order remotely via mobile devices. FoD is designed to replace traditional dining venues that have multiple stations where customers queue up and wait in multiple queues to assemble a full meal, often without customization.

The program has a database of 400 recipes which allows sites to adapt and offer variety as well as take advantage of local fresh items when available. It cuts space usage needs in half, also shrinking energy usage and eliminating food waste because the to-order style and use of advanced cooking technology. Currently, the program operates in six colleges.