Part One: UND Catering and Bakery serve ‘pure joy on a platter’
Close-knit UND Catering and Bakery teams deliver heart, hustle and homemade excellence for little and large events all across campus
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a scrumptious 400-burger grillout with all the fixings, a fancy lemon cream cake luncheon for 115 or a swanky reception featuring a charcuterie masterpiece whorled with more sweet and savory dainties than you can count — never mind, name.
Every day, a small but mighty crew is working quickly and quietly behind the scenes to create that melt-in-your-mouth magic for hundreds of guests all across campus.
Come along with us into the shared kitchen of UND Catering and the UND Bakery to meet the masters of flavor and flair.
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It’s early — 6 o’clock early — and Executive Chef for Retail Dining Mitch Vervalen, Lead Catering Chef Matt Fashingbauer and Catering Chef Micheal Longwell are gathered in the belly of the Memorial Union, looking up at a wall of papers plastered on a stainless steel panel.
To the naked eye, the 20 or so papers — scribbled and Sharpied, highlighted, dotted and checked — may look like complete chaos in the kitchen. But to these experienced chefs, the detailed work orders affixed with hastily torn masking tape represent a foolproof plan for delivering dozens of delicious dishes.
“This is the heart of the UND Catering operation,” Vervalen says with a smile as he presses another sheet to the print-smeared steel. “We can see our whole day right here. This is how we keep everyone on task, and how I try to stay two steps ahead of these guys to keep everything moving.”
The trio admit the day’s lengthy to-do list — along with the pile of recipes pulled from a fat binder on the counter below — may not look pretty, but it’s hard to argue with the team’s execution.
Culinary choreography at its best
Each and every mark on the work orders speaks a universal language. A rough translation goes something like this …
Dot: “That means it’s prepped but not cooked yet.”
Checkmark: “The ranch dressing is bowled up and on the cart. Once something is checked, we don’t have to look at it again.”
Highlight: “We still need to put that together. Maybe it’s something that needs to be made super-fresh — like the strawberry bruschetta so it doesn’t get soggy — or we could be waiting for an ingredient to arrive. Hey, did the Cuties or the hamburger pickles come off the truck yet?”
And what about that scrawled “Andy” (as in President Armacost) … what does that mean?
Oh, that’s code for “Keep the berries out of the salad. No tomatoes on the turkey sandwich.”
Throughout the day, Vervalen keeps one eye on his ovens and one eye on the board to keep the demanding workflow steady and sure.
“First, we work on getting all of today’s orders out of the way so we can focus on prepping for the next day — or next two days if time permits,” Vervalen says. “We’re always thinking ahead and getting as much of the next day’s orders as oven-ready as we can and then staged on carts in the cooler. So when it’s even busier tomorrow, we still can keep everything working like clockwork.”
Missing not a cue nor a peppercorn
UND Catering Manager Andrea Green says it’s that attention to detail and meticulous prepwork that’s necessary for a kitchen that feeds the masses.
And that kind of high-level coordination is even more critical on days like today, when some of those masses will be treated to an Italian soda bar, a smorgasbord of 25 fussy and time-consuming appetizers (think Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Almonds & Cream Cheese, Balsamic Glazed Caprese Picks and Beef Tenderloin Asparagus Rolls), along with that mind-blowing charcuterie board — or should we say gargantuan grazing table — with 40-plus ingredients of its own.
Add to that the staff burger feast and the full-service luncheon, along with two smaller receptions, plus an order of 125 soft pretzels with cheese dip for another event, a breakfast buffet, a taco bar — “there’s always a taco bar” — three coffee-and-cookie affairs, 16 assorted pizzas and 36 ready-to-go lunches for a student field trip.
The sheer volume of the work, plus the UND community’s high expectations, might be enough to make celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay throw in the towel. Yet this kitchen does it all with only three full-time cooks, a couple of part-timers and the help of a handful of students who work three or four hours at a time between classes.
Keeping it rolling on the bakery side
And we’ve yet to mention what Bakery Manager Caylie Salge and baker Tayun Jones are mixing, scooping, sprinkling, frosting, rolling, punching and Kaiser-stamping on the kitchen’s 12-foot butcher block table just a few feet away.
“Everyone has a job to do, but we all help each other out,” Green says. “That’s the only way we can get everything done and out on time.”
Director of UND Dining Services Orlynn Rosaasen offers an enthusiastic second to that.
“I always can count on this team to get the job done. They don’t need any supervision or direction from me,” Rosaasen says. “I may be a little biased, but I think we have the top catering and bakery team in the entire region. The food they produce, the presentation and the customer service are all second to none.
“And this isn’t even their biggest day. I’ve seen them juggle 20 different events going on all over campus. The organization it takes to pull that off is absolutely amazing. They’re not only preparing a ton of top-quality food on time, they also need to make sure it all gets packed up and going to the right place. They do that every day, and they do it with a smile.”
The little kitchen crew that could
Rosaasen has got something there. When a UND Today writer asked to visit the kitchen one day during this spring’s peak banquet season, the cooks already had a lot on their plates, yet they remained as cool as the Smoked Salmon Cucumber Cups they were prepping for that evening’s reception.
By the time the writer had arrived at 6 a.m., Salge already had four large carts of fresh baked goods racked and ready to roll over to the Wilkerson Dining Center.
Did we mention that the UND Bakery produces all of the baked goods for UND Student Dining and UND Catering, as well as for UND’s retail sites on campus?
To start off, that means 24 dozen cookies, 10 dozen each (chocolate chip, lemon poppy seed and blueberry) muffins, eight pans of monkey bread, two huge trays of brownies, fruit-filled pastries and quick breads in three flavors: blueberry, pineapple and pina colada.
And if none of that sounds good with your coffee, there’s also raspberry crumble, lemon cheesecake and thick-frosted cupcakes in chocolate, vanilla and marble.
A passion for cookies and pastries
With a baby at home and a husband who works nights, Salge says she’s learned to make good use of her naptimes. That’s a must when five days a week you’re up and at ’em before 3 a.m. to commute from your Hatton, N.D., home to start your workday by 4 or 4:30 a.m.
“I don’t mind the hours because I absolutely love my job. It’s 100% passion for me,” Salge says. “I’m one of those weirdos who can talk about the difference between baking soda and baking powder for half an hour.”
(In case you’re curious, “Baking powder activates twice — once when you mix it and once when you bake it,” Salge explains. “Baking soda activates just once when it hits the heat of the oven.”)
“We’re definitely a big family down here. Everybody kind of plays their role, but we do a lot of joking around,” Salge adds. “We share what’s going on in our lives. We’re all very close, and we celebrate each other’s accomplishments together.”
Some proof of that covers a large section of wall in Salge’s office. That’s where workers share — in sticky-note style — their random words of encouragement, thanks and praise for each other. Words such as …
“Jacob, thanks for always doing a great job and having fun at the same time. We’re lucky to have you on our team.”
“Matt, thank you for always having such a good mood and keeping the kitchen positive.”
“Tayun, thank you for all your hard work this summer on pizza dough and cookie production. Because of you, we’re set up well for the school year.”
“It’s just a small way for us to show recognition,” Salge says. ‘And once someone gets a couple of notes, they can turn them in for a candy bar, a coffee or a pop.”
Close-knit crew has plenty to celebrate
The notes are nice, but members of the UND Catering team have been recognized in more formal ways, too.
Last year, Green was honored with UND’s Meritorious Service Award, which recognizes individuals who best honor the University’s mission and values through their dedication, performance and relationship with associates.
UND Catering won Gold and Bronze Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards in 2022 and 2023, respectively, for its extensive 44-page online catering menu. The awards represent the ultimate tribute in culinary arts from the National Association of College & University Food Services.
And just this year, UND Dining Services received a Silver Loyal E. Horton Dining Award for its Dining Services Student Leadership Program.
That was an especially proud moment for the whole crew. After all, Green, Vervalen and Salge say the kitchen and its service staff team wouldn’t be able to run as efficiently without their rock-star students.
Students learn leadership with yummy perks
“One of my favorite parts of the job is working with all of the students,” Green said.
Added Vervalen: “It’s rewarding to see how much they learn and grow independently after working in this environment. On Day One, you’re holding their hand and showing them everything, but after four years, they’re doing things without any direction.”
It certainly didn’t take long for UND Dietetics junior Kari Kanable to get the hang of making dark chocolate-covered strawberries with white chocolate drizzle.
After Fashingbauer demonstrated the perfect stick-dip-and-twirl technique, she was well on her way.
It’s routine for Dietetics students to rotate through all areas of UND Dining Services as part of their internship requirement, Kanable explained.
“I think it’s really valuable to see just the vastness and interconnectedness of the whole food service system at UND,” she said. “For example, I was in the Culinary Support Center in Wilkerson earlier, and I actually sliced up some of those tomatoes that ended up on the turkey sandwiches we put together over here today.”
Besides the built-in perk of being able to create and taste the fruits of their labor, the students who work more regularly with the kitchen say there’s other value-added incentives to the job.
Aerospace Engineering student Ross Veselsky and Business student Jacob Wright, cited great flexibility — they’re always students first, Vervalen stressed — and tuition assistance as key benefits. The students also agreed that the good humor of the kitchen crew probably makes the work more fun than a job should be.
“Just like any workplace, there can be occasional tension,” Vervalen acknowledges. “But for the most part, we’re a pretty solid team that likes to joke around and harass each other on a daily basis.
“We have a good time, and I think that’s because we all enjoy what we do. It makes it nice when people come to work smiling and with good attitudes because they really care about the food they produce.”
Amelia Acker, a Nursing student who’s also a new student manager with UND Catering’s service team, says her role in staging events and delegating duties also has been good practice for the important people skills she’ll need in her future health care career.
“I love being able to confidently go out there and say, ‘Yeah, I did this. I was part of setting up this beautiful event,’” Acker said. “I’m learning how to take charge in difficult situations and how to direct people in an assertive, but very kind way. I know I’m going to go into the world with more confidence than I would have if I didn’t have this leadership position.”
Veteran Catering Supervisor Karen Bushaw says she’s heard similar comments from many of the students she’s supervised over the years.
“Student supervisors are already starting to supervise, so when they graduate and get their new jobs, they know a little bit more about what to expect and how to handle different situations,” Bushaw said.
>> Part Two (with a bonus slideshow): Their food is so good, it deserves a second helping.
