University Dining Services Wins Prestigious Food Industry Award

By Debra Bradley Ruder

Gazette Staff

Dining Services Wins Food Industry Award

University Dining Services has captured the coveted Ivy Award for being the best noncommercial food service in the United States.

"We couldn't be more pleased," said Michael Berry, director of Dining Services. "We feel very honored and very proud of the team and what they've achieved."

"This is the biggest award that a restaurant or institution can win as a team," said Dining Services project manager Alexandra McNitt. "It's because of the hard work our staff has been doing on a day-to-day basis."

The annual award is decided by ballots circulated to the 172,000 readers of Restaurants & Institutions magazine. Harvard vied with 45 top-notch restaurants and institutions around the country, nominated by past Ivy Award winners. Other 1996 victors include China Moon in San Francisco, Lespinasse in New York, and Little Nell in Aspen. Among the previous Boston-area recipients are Biba, Jasper's, and Café Budapest.

This year's award ceremony will be held May 19, during the National Restaurant Show in Chicago.

McNitt and Berry believe Harvard won for its contemporary, innovative, and varied food program -- including the board plan, catering, and restaurants; for its staff support; for the assistance that Dining Services gives to others in the industry; "and for our almost obsessive passion toward service," said Berry.

"People call on Mike [Berry] to help solve problems, and we always welcome visitors," McNitt said. "Articles are written in trade and association magazines about our cooks' training program and our staff recognition program. People have been bench-marking against us for awhile."

After Harvard was nominated (but did not win) last year, the 511-member Dining Services staff agreed last spring that the Ivy Award was a worthy goal to strive for, they said.

This is the second major honor that Dining Services has garnered this academic year. In November, it received a First Annual Visionary Award for its innovative menus. The judges were editors from seven food-service magazines, including Food Art, Eating Light, and Food Management.