CWU Dining Services introduces ‘All You Care To Enjoy’ service this fall

Central Washington University Dining Services customers are being treated to a new concept this fall in Holmes Dining Room.

In an effort to bring more people into the spacious dining area on the west end of the Student Union and Recreation Center (SURC), Dining Services has moved away from the a la carte menus of years past in favor of an “All You Care To Enjoy” (AYCTE) format.

The Dining Services team previewed the concept to select faculty, staff, and students in late August and early September before introducing a rotating AYCTE menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on September 23.

Brunch will also be offered on the weekends, with every meal being assigned a specific price point. AYCTE breakfast in Holmes Dining Room is $12.95, lunch is $15.95, dinner is $17.95, and brunch is $18.95.

“We’ve been trying to draw more participation to a relatively under-utilized space for a long time,” Dining Services Director Dean Masuccio said. “Breakfast and lunch traffic was pretty good, but dinner wasn’t where we needed it to be, so we decided to reimagine the space.”

Masuccio explained that the Holmes space was originally designed as an AYCTE facility, and his team had been hearing from students that they would appreciate a format change.

“One of the main drivers for this change was a sense of community,” he said. “We wanted to bring Holmes back to being our campus dining hall — a place where everyone can come together and enjoy a meal.”

Executive Chef Joe Ritchie said the Dining Services team visited a number of other campus dining facilities in Washington and out of state, and they concluded that the main thing missing from CWU was a community dining space.

“We thought it was cool to see large groups gathering in one place, and we wanted to replicate that here,” Ritchie said.

“We also feel like it ties in well with the vision of the university — to be a model learning community of equity and belonging,” Masuccio added.

Each of the four primary food stations in Holmes will offer a rotating menu for breakfast, lunch, dinner. Serving sizes are smaller, by design, and food is served on reusable plates and bowls to reduce waste.

Trays have also been eliminated, encouraging customers to only take what they can carry and then return for another helping. The beauty of All You Care To Enjoy is there are no limits on the number of trips you can make to the kitchen.

“We don’t want to encourage overeating, but we do want people to sample more items,” Masuccio said. “That way, if you like something, you can always come back for more.”

With a wide variety of new menu items now being offered, the hope is that customers will do just that. Among the new items previewed this summer were lemongrass pork skewers, Korean barbecue skewers, and shredded pork arepas.

“We’re going to have quite a bit of variety, and it’s going to change every day,” Ritchie said.

Other selections include a macaroni and cheese bar, nacho bar, and all-day breakfast. Meanwhile, the salad bar will always be available during lunch and dinner hours.

Another highlighted concept in the new space is the Top 9 Allergen station, which serves foods free from all of the main food allergies, such as wheat, gluten, tree nuts, peanuts, soy, and dairy.

“We are really proud of our allergen station,” Masuccio said. “Our team has worked really hard to make that happen because we know it’s something our students would appreciate. We want to be inclusive of everyone who dines with us.”

Along with the increased variety on the menu, Dining Services is also placing an emphasis on food quality and presentation this year.

“There’s a lot of culinary creativity going on over here, and I hope our customers recognize that,” he said. “One thing we’re really trying to do is keep things interesting. If you come in on a Monday, chances are you won’t see those same menu items for a couple of weeks.”

Sustainability was another key consideration of the new AYCTE format. The reusable plates and utensils are a step in that direction, while offering smaller servings limits the amount of food waste that accumulates.

“In talking to other universities on the West Coast, we found that smaller servings often translate to more perceived value on the plate,” Ritchie said. “Customers feel like they are getting what they pay for, and it’s also a better sustainability model for us.”

Dining Services expects the AYCTE model to deliver a number of short- and long-term benefits. But, most of all, the team hopes to see Holmes Dining Room return to being a place where the CWU community can gathering together.

“We want to build connections, and we want people to feel welcome here,” Masuccio said. “We want our students to engage with our chefs and our staff, and this new model will give us more of an opportunity to get to know them so we can serve them better.”