Zag Dining
We would first like to thank all of the parents and families who dined at any of our restaurants, cafes, or who stopped by our tables and chatted with us over Orientation Weekend. It was wonderful to meet so many new people and see all the new faces around campus. We are all so thrilled to have the campus buzzing again with amazing energy!
We wanted to take this opportunity to give you a little recap of some of the fun events that we have hosted over the first few weeks of school. What follows below is just a preview of what we have in store for your student. We don’t want to make you jealous, but just want to show you what an amazing year your student’s are going to have here at Gonzaga & Zag Dining!
If you were fortunate enough to be on Campus during Orientation, you may have seen our Homegirl Café event. For those of you who are reading this who don’t already know, the incoming Freshman required reading was “Tattoos on the Heart” written by Fr. Greg Boyle, a Gonzaga Almunus & founder of Homeboy Industries. In the book, Jesuit priest Boyle recounts his two decades of working with homies in Los Angeles County, which contains 1,100 gangs with nearly 86,000 members. Boyle’s Homeboy Industries is the largest gang intervention program in the country, offering job training, tattoo removal, and employment to members of enemy gangs. The book helped decide this year’s theme of “Make Your Mark” and encouraged everyone to reflect on how they are going to make their mark on Gonzaga and in the community.
Another division of Homeboy Industries is the Homegirl Cafe which is a “social enterprise assisting at-risk and formerly gang-involved young women and men to become contributing members of our community through training in restaurant service and culinary arts.” In conjunction with the required reading and the orientation theme, Gonzaga invited the executive chef, Pati Zatare and three homegirls to come to Gonzaga and cook with Zag Dining’s team. The results were amazing. Not only did we have the pleasure to meet amazing women from a different culture, but we were able to prepare their food their way and work beside them. What these groups of women have been through is indescribable and we are so fortunate to have had them join us in Spokane and to learn from their experience. Not to mention, their food was delicious and all of our guests raved about it!That was going to be a tough event to follow, but we tried! On Friday September 2nd, Zag Dining followed up with a NorthWESTERN BBQ Hoedown. Foley Lawn was transformed into the Foley Corral complete with mechanical bull!
Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time and enjoyed the delicious food. Speaking of the food…almost everything we served was from a local producer? Here is some more information regarding the products we used to support our local community and our commitment to sustainability.
THE PIG…Yes, he was a great photo opp for our guests, but do you know where he came from? Our tasty little piggy came from Carlton Farms. “Located in the Coast Range foothills of northwest Oregon’s Yamhill Valley, Carlton Farms produces fresh, handcrafted meats of the highest quality for select restaurants, gourmet markets, and customers with discriminating tastes throughout the Pacific Northwest. A family-owned business, we specialize in premium fresh and natural pork as well as exceptional beef, lamb, and a variety of sausages and smoked meats.” Our Pig was smoked with applewood for 8 hours, pulled and smothered in our Zag Dining homemade bbq sauce.
Where’s the Beef? Well, that came from Baron Farms in Wapato, Washington. From the website: “Baron Farms raises all of the animals that
become our products on our farm in Wapato, Washington. When you choose Baron Farms, you will know exactly where your food comes from. Our processes are very grass centric. Grass is a great food source full of the nutrients that result when the sun combines with soil. It is a substantial reason why our products are healthier for you.
Nothing is confined. Grass grows best in a pasture but no so well in a cage. It takes more time to do it that way but everything wins including the animals, the soil, and you.
Baron Farms is local. We do not ship our products beyond the great Pacific Northwest (Washington State, Oregon, Idaho, and Northern California).
Our Fish from the (Farmed) Sea! Cedar Planked Salmon came in whole and fresh to us from the Atlantic Farms. OK, you may think that
is not very sustainable, when indeed it is. According to www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch U.S. farmed freshwater coho salmon is a “Best Choice” due to the reduced risk of escaped fish and the spread of pollution and disease to the surrounding environment. As you may or may not know, Sodexo has signed an agreement to use only certified sustainable seafood in all production by 2015. Check out the article here. The salmon at the BBQ was topped with a Huckleberry Coulis. For those newcomers to the Pacific Northwest, a Huckleberry is very much like a blueberry, but rarer and can only be found in the wild. Most Huckleberries grow in Idaho and Montana. They require elevations of from 2,000 to 11,000 feet and reportedly thrive in acidic mountain soil.
Even our side dishes and desserts represented the Pacific Northwest like our Skagit Valley Tricolered Fingerling Potatoes (roasted with bacon, green peppers, garlic and onions then topped with parmesan cheese and herbs) Located just north of Seattle, here is a list of Skagit Valley produce. http://www.svbest.com/
Did you know that the Pullman, Washington in the Palouse is home of the Lentil Festival every year and that most of the United States lentils come from that area? http://www.lentilfest.com/ That’s why we served Cowboy Bean and Lentil Stew roasted peppers, onions and garlic, highlighted with cumin and chili spices.
Our Northwest Foraged Spokane Field Greens were a huge hit! They were dressed up with Oregon Blue Cheese, candied pecans, bib and read leaf lettuce from C&S Hydrohuts in Spokane, and roasted bell pepper buttermilk dressing.
We also served local Spokane Corn as well as Cornbread. And last but not least…THE COBBLERS!! One filled with Yakima,
WA peaches and one with Washington Apples.
We truly take supporting our local community to heart and try our best to by from local producers. That is why we also started a Farmer’s Market. On September 8th, Zag Dining hosted it’s very first Farmer’s Market featuring fresh produce for an inexpensive price available for our guests to buy using their Dining Dollars, Bulldog Bucks, credit cards and cash. We were sure to indentify each item and what farm it came from and our guests really enjoyed it. We will be holding our market every other Thursday right outside of the COG! Here are some photos:
As stated previously, this is just a preview of all the fun and exciting things to come for your students this year from Zag Dining. Please feel free to call or email us with any questions. For all the latest information, please find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/zagdining or subscribe to our blog at www.zagdining.wordpress.com