Wellness
Superfoods
Superfoods are foods that have an outstanding nutrient density; they provide more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants compared to other foods.
Many people strive to incorporate as many superfoods into their diets as possible to obtain utmost benefit per calorie. The majority of superfoods are fruits and vegetables, consequently many of them are seasonal. Our Superfood program feature a superfood each month. You will be able to see different promotions including the Superfood of the month.
January
Citrus
February
Seeds
March
Legumes
April
Sea Vegetables
May
Avocados
June
Leafy Greens
July
Stone Fruits
August
Tomatoes
September
Apples
October
Winter Squash
November
Mushrooms
December
Tea
RADISH
All we do at Restaurant Associates begins with delicious food.
We create authentic menus and programs through Innovation. Sustainability is incorporated in everyday decisions from menu planning to procurement practices. Finally, we are driving Healthy menus with more vegetable forward cooking, less emphasis on meat products, more appropriate portion sizes, and better-for-you cooking methods.
Through the RADISH program we are able to offer more comprehensive menus that meet a variety of our customers wellness needs. We have developed culinary components as well as nutritional criteria so that the customers can easily identify and select these options.
Look for the RADISH icon for healthier options in our cafés.
ForLife
ForLife is a comprehensive wellbeing platform created by Restaurant Associates’ team of Registered Dietitians to teach people how to implement health and wellbeing practices into their daily lives.
There are four pillars of ForLife: Nourishment, Sustainability, Movement and Resiliency. The program is split into four quarters, each of which highlights a specific pillar. Content such as blog posts, handouts, recipe cards and Instagram posts are dispersed to teach and encourage practices and behaviors specific to each pillar during their given quarter.
Teaching Kitchen
Teaching kitchen is a collaborative culinary learning experience hosted by Restaurant Associates with the goal of expanding food, culinary and nutrition literacy.
Participants engage and collaborate with onsite culinary and registered dietitians. Participants complete this program with a better ability to plan and cook healthy meals at home. Furthermore, participants have reported increased frequency of cooking at home, reduction in mealtime stress and an increased appreciation for world cuisines and cultures.
Nutrition Labelling/Recipe Management Software
At Restaurant Associates, we operate a proprietary web-based software to manage our menus, ingredients, recipes and nutrition data.
The system has several functions, but we primarily use it to input recipes which generate accurate, FDA compliant labels. It provides accurate nutritional information and allergen information to meet client and customer demands. This software maintains ingredients accuracy and menu standards to control food production and labels accuracy. It is a best-in-class recipe database developed by our culinary leaders, chefs and dietitians. Nutrition labelling is a crucial component of our wellness program, ForLife and RADISH.
For nutritional information, please select the station you’d like to view from the menu bar.
Allergy
Our dining services are committed to providing a healthy, safe experience for all; that includes taking measures to ensure the needs of those with allergies and dietary restrictions.
We identify the common allergens on our menus and whether or not it is vegan or vegetarian. We encourage anyone with an allergy to notify the Ingredient Expert identified in the cafe to discuss menus thoroughly. Furthermore, our staff completes extensive training on allergens and food safety such as FARECheck Silver and Gold Certifications.
Avoiding Gluten
Avoiding Gluten which offer menu items prepared without gluten containing ingredients.
We use the term “avoiding gluten” instead of “gluten free” because we handle and prepare menu items with gluten containing ingredients in our main kitchens.
OASIS
We have an OASIS food station on campus.
OASIS is a unique food station that is intended to provide menu options that are prepared without peanuts, tree nuts, crustacean shellfish, fish, eggs, milk, soy, sesame, wheat or gluten. Our culinary team is dedicated to offering minimally processed, fresh meals made from single source ingredients without hidden additives or seasonings. All food served at an OASIS station is prepared in a separate kitchen and uses equipment and utensils exclusive to them. If you have severe food allergies or intolerances, we suggest you eat from the Oasis station or reach out to our allergy experts.
Plant-Based/Plant-Forward Eating
People choose to eat a plant-based or plant-forward diet for a wide variety of reasons:
- Personal health
- Concern over animal welfare
- Impact on the environment
- Religious reasons
- Food allergies
Plant-forward is a concept for dietary and food system that include a range of healthier, more sustainable culinary approaches. It emphasizes plant-based food such as legumes, vegetables, nuts, grains and fruits, but also includes smaller portions of poultry, fish and dairy products. Individuals following this type of diet might also call themselves Flexitarians.
Flexitarian is a diet focused on plant sourced foods, and much less reliant on meat. Often following a vegetarian model, but may occasionally include meat, poultry, fish and dairy.
Pescatarian is a vegetarian diet that includes fish or other aquatic animals.
A vegetarian diet is one which does not include meat, fish or poultry. People following a vegetarian diet do eat eggs, dairy products and honey.
A vegan diet or a plant-based eating pattern is one which fully eliminates all animal meat and animal products. This includes any food made from an animal, such as beef, chicken, fish and any animal product such as milk, eggs and honey.
Allergen Warning
Be aware that we handle and prepare egg, milk, wheat, gluten, shellfish, fish, soy, sesame, peanut and tree nut products, and other potential allergens in the food production areas of our facility. Risk of cross contamination may occur without our knowledge due to the proximity of other ingredients containing allergens. Guests with food allergies or specific dietary concerns should speak with our ingredient allergen expert for individualized assistance.
