ARLINGTON: High School Students in Arlington, Virginia will be the First to Experience New Healthy Dining Choices

Cuisine Solutions Introduces Café + Teria in Arlington, VA in September 2017

High School students in Arlington, Virginia will be the first to experience new healthy dining choices for lunch service developed by the pioneer of sous-vide cooking, Cuisine Solutions.

Students attending Arlington, Virginia’s three public high schools, Wakefield, Yorktown and Washington-Lee, will be the first to implement Cuisine Solutions’ fresh lunch options in their new Café + Teria concept. Available daily as part of the Arlington county’s lunch program, students will be able to select ingredients in four steps to build a nutritious meal by picking a base of grain, salad or a wrap; a protein: antibiotic-free chicken, ground beef, or Paneer cheese; a topping of vegetables, cheese and sauces, and a dressing. Café +Teria represents a new partnership for Cuisine Solutions with Arlington County’s Food Nutrition Services, and each of the three schools will have a serving line with the same distinctive, modern look.

The concept for this new school lunch program is designed around using Cuisine Solutions’ proteins, exclusively. Café + Teria’s protein choices will all be prepared with the sous-vide method, which fully cooks and pasteurizes the food. Sous-vide is French for "under vacuum" which describes a cooking technique in which food is vacuum-sealed, then slow cooked in hot water. Cuisine Solutions, the world’s leading expert in sous-vide cooking, pioneered, perfected and popularized sous-vide, which allows for food to cook at a steady temperature to retain nutrients, flavors and moisture that are often lost during conventional cooking techniques.

This new dining option at lunch will provide students with additional allotted amounts of vegetables and will likely increase their consumption through this program. It also provides a more modern dining experience with several different international cuisines focus to address menu fatigue. Parents will see Café + Teria as a consistent fresh dining option that their children will appreciate. Cuisine Solutions is also providing the three Arlington high schools with the recipes, standard operating procedures, name brand and marketing materials to support the new program. Café + Teria resembles a franchise for schools, which can be replicated at any school district in the country. It will operate similarly to popular fast casual restaurants that appeal to young diners.

“In February 2017, Cuisine Solutions invited 10 of Virginia’s school districts and food management companies to participate in a forum to explore ways to enhance the region’s dining programs for high school students,” states Bill Stablein, Cuisine Solutions’ manager K-12 programs. This program introduces the healthy, fast-casual dining experience that teenagers love. Arlington is an innovative district and a good choice to begin the program based on size, number of schools, diversity, and exposure to quick-service restaurants. Amy Maclosky, director of food and nutrition services for Arlington County is a great partner for us, as we work together to finalize this new, fresh option for lunch.”

After the school forum last February, Cuisine Solutions’ chefs and team worked together using the feedback from the districts to create the menu especially for Café + Teria focusing on local ingredients. Arlington has a robust farm-to-school program. The team focused on product selection and recipe creation that would appeal to students and provide healthy, quality, delicious options with appealing combinations, incorporating local produce from area farms for the toppings. The recipes are also low in sodium, fat and sugar. Additionally, dressing recipes and ingredient combinations for each type of cuisine were developed through The Culinary Research and Education Academy (CREA), the global leader in culinary research, education and consulting, and the sister company to Cuisine Solutions.