Best Army food in Europe; Baumholder’s DFAC burns competition

The Hard Rock Diner dining facility on Baumholder’s Smith Barracks was named the best in Europe for the second year in a row, as well as runner-up at the Department of the Army level for fiscal year 2014.

The Phillip A. Connelly Award recognizes the Army dining facilities that provide the best quality food service and preparation. Nearly 200 DFACs competed in FY14.

“This is our Super Bowl, the evaluation that marks food service excellence,” said Sgt. 1st Class Michael Graves, DFAC manager. “It demonstrates how we go above and beyond to make sure our customers have the best service possible … by taking basic food service plans and enhancing them.”

Some improvements include 10 salad dressing choices vice the Army-required four; freshly-cut vegetables; romaine, iceberg and spinach in the salad mixture; several choices of homemade croutons; and sliced lemon and lime for beverages – and that’s just the daily mix.

“We like to kick it up a notch,” Graves said, adding that other menu options have included stuffed mushroom appetizers, stewed tomatoes and homemade spinach lasagna.

Though not every menu item is completely fresh, Graves and his team carve out time each week at the DFAC Council to carefully select the menu, researching how they can continue to offer healthy and delicious, fresh meals while following a strict budget.

“I know what’s expensive and what’s cost-effective. (For example), we’ll buy a whole chicken and cut it up instead of buying it pre-done. It’s about smart shopping, but I don’t know everything. It’s a team effort,” Graves said.

Some small and less pricey changes include offering turkey, spinach and bell peppers for omelets at breakfast and using ground turkey in lieu of beef in various dishes.

“We definitely go above, and typically exceed, the standards. We owe it to the customers, who are mostly barracks Soldiers, to make the dining facility their first option. They deserve the best, and they shouldn’t have to choose to go to the commissary or elsewhere for meals, because we serve too much salt or they’re watching what they eat,” Graves said.

To that end, the team takes feedback from its customers — who often also include civilian employees, family members and local nationals with base access — very seriously.

“I read the comment cards at least every other day, and most of them are positive, especially about the (chicken) wings and the Soldiers’ professionalism, but certain things just don’t fit our customer base or budget,” Graves said.

One suggestion was to incorporate infused water (cool water mixed with fresh fruit, vegetables or herbs) into the regular line-up of soda, “bug juice” and water at the beverage counter.

The first attempt of infused cucumber and mint water was a big hit for Sgt. Adam Jarema, who recently arrived from Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The Bay Area, Michigan, native approached Graves to thank him in person for following his suggestion, and so quickly.

“It’s great the DFAC Council took a little bit of time and read the comment cards. This is just one more thing this DFAC brings to make it that much better. They took a suggestion and went with it,” said Jarema, senior nodal systems operator/maintainer with the 504th Brigade Signal Company.

And as far as the service goes, the Soldiers don’t do the same job day-to-day. For instance, one will showcase a cake he or she made from scratch, and then stand by to cut individual slices for hungry patrons. Other troops, many of whom are brand-new to the military, help serve from the pasta bar or from behind the main line. This gives them experience working in different areas of the DFAC.

“I like to run this dining facility like it’s a restaurant,” Graves said. “This is just like a sport. You put people together in the right places and motivate them to do the right thing.

“I’m not a good baker, but I know what right looks like and how you get there,” he added. “But if you have someone who is (a good baker) and you allow them to bake cakes, they stay in their comfort zone,”

The Hard Rock Diner is open 365 days a year, including holidays.