Virginia Tech wins whole-grains competition

Nation's Restaurant News,  Oct 8, 2007  

Tags: Virginia Tech

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BOSTON -- Virginia Tech Dining Services of Blacksburg, Va., is the national grand-prize winner of the Whole Grains Challenge, sponsored by the Whole Grains Council, based here.

Virginia Tech won for the Whole Grain Boot Camp it ran in June and July, which featured two dozen daily specials accompanied by promotional table cards and posters and a bicycle raffle.

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The grand-prize winner was in the college/university category. Winners in other categories were as follows:

* Quick service: Jersey Mike's, based in Manasquan, N.J., for offering rolls containing a full serving or more of whole grains.

* Casual/family dining: P.F. Chang's China Bistro and Pei Wei Asian Diner, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., for serving 10 million pounds of brown rice last year, accounting for 45 percent of their rice sales.

* Fine dining: Cafe Modern at the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, for offering whole-grain offerings such as tabbouleh and wheat-berry salad.

* Lodging/catering: FireLake Grill House at the Radisson Hotel in Minneapolis for putting whole grains at the center of their menu.

* K-12 public schools: Colorado Springs, Colo., School District 11 and Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia for switching to whole-wheat pizza crusts and hamburger rolls, whole-grain bread, and whole-grain breading for its chicken nuggets.

* K-12 private schools: Flik Independent Schools at Milton Academy in Milton, Mass., and Ross School in East Hampton, N.Y., for items such as whole-wheat phylIo and wheat-berry salad.

* Workplace: Flik/Compass Group at Merck in Boston for daily whole-grain salads as alternatives to fries and chips.

* Health care: HSC Cafeteria at West Virginia University Hospitals for whole grains in items such as paella and chocolate-pecan biscotti.

* Other: University Village Center, a retirement community in Tampa, Fla., for dishes like seafood amaranth and soba noodle salad.

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