Bon Appétit recently added egg-cellent new healthy items to A.J. Café’s menu, in addition to making renovations to Jitters.
Multiple changes were made over Christmas break, including the replacement of the old dish machine with a new one and a new A.J.’s menu. This menu has new items tailored toward vegetarian and vegan students. As a part of Bon Appétit’s commitment to healthy eating and serving all different types of diets, the new menu has a variety of new foods.
“We wanted to provide veggie options for people,” Persson said. “This change will allow people who want to eat more plant-based foods to be able to do so.”
According to Persson, many students don’t go to breakfast in the dining hall or in A.J.’s. For this reason, A.J.’s has decided to add all-day breakfast menu items, such as buttermilk pancakes, egg white florentine on a croissant, and a el corcel breakfast burrito.
“People have been freaking out about having pancakes at any time,” Bon Appétit Marketing Manager William Persson said.
Two popular sandwiches featured during fall 2014, Bon Appétit’s first year, are the ham and cheese sandwich and the chipotle chicken sandwich. One new sandwich addition is the Big Dipper, a marinated portobello burger on naan bread with a hummus spread.
“It is a lot more gourmet than anything we’ve offered before,” said freshman and AJs employee Anna Katherine Daley.
Bon Appétit also made changes to their sides in A.J.’s, introducing house made chips and salsa. It also plans to make sweet potato fries everyday.
“It’s so cool that A.J.’s is being adventurous in what they’re serving,” junior Josephine Von Dohlen said. “They’re letting students think outside the box in regards to food. Especially being in the middle of Michigan, sometimes food options can seem very bland and scarce, but their new menu is really exciting.”
The menu changes have been made partially due to new labeling regulation. The government requires the calorie count to be put for all food that is consistently available. The calorie count is now provided for every item on the new menu board in A.J.’s and Jitters.
Other physical changes were made to Jitters including replacing the wallpaper with light cream and coffee color paint. The goal, according to Persson, was to move away from the stagnant feel and aim for a more welcoming and modern feel while still keeping some traditional touches. There are no menu changes to Jitters as of now, but Persson said there may be more grab-n-go items in the future.
Persson expects those with vegetarian and vegan diets to enjoy the new items, especially since there has been backlash for not providing enough options in the past.
Bon Appétit also gained a new dish machine over Christmas break.
“The former machine broke down periodically and maintenance constantly had to fix it,” Persson said. We had to use plastic dishware which isn’t what we want…we really try to reduce landfill usage.”
According to Perrson, Switching to this new machine is a way to increase efficiency and prevents resorting to use plastic. Hillsdale College offered to buy the new machine, displaying their dedication to the service being run well.
“I’m excited to see the feedback from students,” Persson said. “I’m sure that we will end up seeing increased foot traffic in A.J.’s to try out the new menu.”