HNSC 3250 Institutional Food Service Management

Elizabete Gilgurd
5/17/22
Fieldwork Reflection

Boca Del Cielo is a café located in the heart of Bay Ridge on 85th Street and 3rd Avenue. It

is a rather new food service institution, having been in operation for less than a year now. Its

hours of operation are from 7AM to 7PM, every day of the week. Boca Del Cielo markets and

presents itself as a relatively affordable and health-conscious institution. The vision and mission

is to provide simple, affordable healthy food options. The menu is made up of various wraps,

omelets, sandwiches, burgers, smoothies, fresh juices, as well as some common breakfast foods

such as pancakes and French toast. The prices range from $2 for pastries and cookies, $6 to $8

for fresh pressed juices, and upwards of $14 for items such as angus burgers and salads. The

aesthetic presentation of the space aligns itself with the mission statement as well-filled with

lush greenery of large potted plants and smaller ones hanging from the ceiling. The tables and

seating booths are a refreshing mint green color. Altogether, this cultivates a pleasant, relaxing

environment. This all takes place within a conventional food service type setting. The majority

of the space inside the café is actually occupied by seating-approximately 75% with the

remaining 25% for the kitchen and sanitation area. The populations served vary in ethnicity

with a significant portion being Arab, as well as White and Hispanic/Latino. Age-wise, the

majority of the patrons are young adults, and many are students (both high school and college).

The staff is made up of the manager, two cooks who alternate shifts, and approximately

five other employees who are all part-time employees. The manager is only present from 7AM
to 3PM Monday through Saturday. I asked the manager about the overall organization and

scheduling of employees, but she was unable to provide a direct answer or able to show any

sort of written or printed schedule. Upon observation the duties of the manager typically

include preparing various drinks such as coffee, lattes, tea, fresh-pressed juices, smoothies but

on occasion takes initiative to prepare food when a cook is not available right at the moment

(using the restroom, taking a smoking break etc.) as well as helping plate food for “to-stay”

orders at the café or “to-go” orders that have to be picked up. The manager is also regularly

involved in restocking from the dry storage area in the basement, serving the patrons, and

some minor cleaning. When the manager leaves her shift at 3PM, a part-time employee takes

her place until closing time. Throughout my volunteering time at this institution, I was only

allowed to be present in the kitchen when the manager was present. Because of this, I was

unable to observe how the café was operated without the presence of the manager or how it

was cleaned after closing time and prepped for opening the next day. The manager was also

vague regarding the cleaning protocol, other than the closing employees being responsible for

cleaning out the juicing machine. The first cook is present from the time of opening until

approximately 2 or 3PM. The second cook arrives at around this same time-sometimes before

the first cook leaves. When this happens, she will help with preparing orders or cleaning.

Unfortunately, the overall layout and organization of the kitchen, sanitation area, and

food storage area is incredibly haphazard with countless violations and risks present regarding

general food safety due to poor food storage, food preparation, and sanitation. There are also

general safety hazards for employees due to the layout of the kitchen and poor cleaning. There

is no actual receiving area for food shipments. Everything is brought into the café through the
front door. The manager has not disclosed where exactly she orders food for the staple items

such as dairy products, milk alternatives bread, tortillas, smoked/frozen salmon, frozen meat,

chicken etc. However, the manager on occasion goes to a nearby supermarket to purchase

fresh produce with money taken from the register.

The layout of the kitchen is as follows: The kitchen area has a long, narrow worktable

made of plastic built into a large stainless-steel unit with a two-compartment refrigeration

underneath, this is used as the main working area. Above this worktable-and also built into this

structure-is shelving that is utilized for storing plates and to-go containers. Behind the

worktable, is a row of 12 small stainless-steel pans held in this structure. They are filled with a

variety of chopped and prepped ingredients that are used in various dishes. Some of these

ingredients include but are not limited to: crumbled feta cheese, shredded cheese, chopped

green pepper and onion etc. To the right of this are five stainless steel shelves. The contents

stored here have no visible system of organization; the shelves are used to store of a variety of

ingredients such as spices, large jars of jam (that are partially opened), bowls, large containers

of cooking oil on the bottom shelf, and smaller cooking utensils such as a meat tenderizer and a

manual citrus juicer, as well as more to-go containers. Adjacent to this and to the far-right of

the worktable is a stainless-steel deep fryer-used for the preparation of frozen sweet potato

fries and tater tots. Next to this is a small four-burner stove with an oven, followed by a rather

large stainless steel, gas-operate griddle. Less than a foot away there is another small two-

compartment refrigeration unit. Around the corner, a small sink for employees to wash hands

(however there is frequently no hand soap present). There is also a fire extinguisher present.

Then there is a three-compartment sink on the far end of the wall with the first for washing,
second for rinsing, and the third for sanitization. These sinks, however, are often being used

improperly. Very often dirty dishes are placed in the sink meant for rinsing and stored there or

are washed directly there. Also, at least on two occasions I have seen a large bowl of raw

chicken sitting either in the employee hand washing sink or in the rinse sink. The largest, main

form of refrigeration is right next to the three-compartment sink. It is not a proper fridge for

commercial food service-it is a sliding glass door merchandiser fridge that has been repurposed

for storing the majority of hazard foods. There is a small stainless-steel freezer unit at the front

of the café, underneath the station that is used for juices and smoothies (used for the storage

of frozen salmon, beef, and open containers of mixed berries). There is another under the

counter refrigeration unit at the far end of the front of the café-this is used for the storing of

dairy milk, milk alternatives, and juices.

There are no thermometers present in any of the refrigeration-including the sliding door

fridge. Upon observation, the shelving seems clean. However, many of the foods are being

stored improperly and the cook has on more than one occasion reached into containers of food

bare-handed-sometimes after touching raw, uncooked hazard foods (such as chicken). Some

notable examples of improper food storage include: a pitcher of pooled eggs, raw chicken

breasts out of their original packaging in a stainless-steel container and covered with saran

wrap, containers of cream cheese/yogurt with the lids off and not fully sealed. The trash is

right in front of this main fridge. Sometimes there is trash on the floor, like cardboard

packaging.

Dry food storage is in the basement, the wooden stairs to which are narrow and very

steep. I personally felt incredibly unsafe going down the stairs empty handed and even more so
coming up while carrying something. The area is very poorly lit, with the dry goods stored

haphazardly on shelves right up to the basement ceiling and on bottom shelves only about 3-4

inches off the floor. Large containers of soda and water were stored on the other side either

directly on the floor which was visibly filthy or on top of what appeared to be an old freezer

unit-right near cleaning chemicals-some closed and others open and used, some bulk

containers of cooking oil were also very close. There is no reserved, organized space for the

storage of cleaning chemicals, and supplies-they are scattered throughout the institution, often

precariously right near foods or preparation areas. At the front of the café, where drinks are

prepared and items such as pastries, cookies, bagels etc. are available under a see-through

glass table-there is a large industrial container of Windex less than a foot away from these

items.

Upon observation, this institution has a workplace norm of poor hygiene and food

safety practices-alarmingly even the most basic ones. Sometimes there is no soap available in

the restroom or the employee hand wash sink. Mugs used to serve “to-stay” orders of lattes are

just rinsed with water before being set aside to dry. Foods are often handled without gloves

(the cook at times reaches into containers of food bare-handed) or even if gloves are worn,

there is high-risk of cross contamination such as seeing the cook handle raw chicken and then

open a fridge door, use other kitchen tools, touch other foods without changing his gloves. As

far as I have observed, there are no cutting boards being used in food preparation-cutting,

chopping, assembling is done directly on the plastic worktable. There is no protocol in place

regarding cross-contamination or food allergies. The fruits used for fresh-pressed juice are not

washed or even rinsed. On one occasion I saw the manager using a cut piece of apple that fell
on the floor (after briefly rinsing it with water) in a juice. The leafy greens used in the juice-kale

and spinach-are sometimes yellowed, visibly spoiled and slimy. I had to point this out to the

manager at times. The manager also has a bad habit of leaving fully opened containers of dairy

milk, alternative milks, and half & half on the counter when preparing drinks. On another

occasion, placed a cardboard box of frozen salmon directly on top of the cutting board and

knife used for cutting the fruits and vegetables for juices and smoothies. The floors are visibly

filthy and poorly washed and there are significant chips in some of the tiles-that I myself have

nearly tripped over.

This food service institution is in dire need of improvements in all aspects of sanitation

and food safety. Granted, some improvements may be costly and be limited due to budget

(such as proper, efficient refrigeration units or repaired broken tiles). There are some things

that can be changed very easily at minimal cost. First and foremost is the lack of handwashing:

make hand soap readily available in the bathroom and employee hand wash sink and make it

the standard to frequently wash hands-especially after using the bathroom or smoking. Next,

have the cook (or anyone else involved in the preparation of food) put on gloves and change

them when needed to prevent cross-contamination. Also, regarding the storage of hazard

foods: do not pool eggs, put away cartons of eggs in the fridge right away and do not leave

them out at room temperature. Do not leave out raw chicken to sit in room temperature-

especially in sinks meant for cleaning dishes or washing hands. Make sure containers of foods

are sealed shut properly. Place separate thermometers in the refrigeration and freezer units.

Repair rubber gaskets. Create an overall more organized system of food and utensil storage.

Use specific cutting boards and knives that are set aside specifically for working with meat and
fish and others for fruits and vegetables. Set aside a specific storage space/area for cleaning

chemicals and supplies. Do not place cartons or packages in areas of food preparation. Put

away milks and dairy alternatives right away once they are no longer needed for the

preparation of a drink. There are even more ways for this food institution to improve, however,

these are the easiest first steps that can be taken.