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A rich medley of tomato, fresh garlic and parmesan cheese fills the air as Soldiers and civilians from the Patriot Garden dining facility move through the kitchen with clock-work precision. The team is busy chopping, stirring and sauteing all of the ingredients for the day’s lunch meal.
A cook brings dining facility manager Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Hopkins a bowl of marinara sauce to taste. The New York native samples a spoonful.
“The flavors and spices should complement each other. You want a nice even blend,” Hopkins said. “This is what the customer is going to taste, and it has to be right.”
Hopkins took over the Patriot Garden late last year, and when he arrived he found a facility that was operating over budget, losing customers and facing a shortage of cooks due to deployments.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 William Michitsch, food service adviser for the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, said Hopkins came in and hit the ground running.
“I’ve been here for over two and a half years and I’ve been through several dining facility managers, and … we’ve had a not so great of a past,” Michitsch said. “Sergeant Hopkins jumps in right into the rhythm and makes immediate changes. He and his staff are doing great things, and I’m proud to have him here.”
Hopkins helped to bring in contracted cooks, added new menu items, including a potato, sandwich and ice cream bar, hosted theme meals and worked to shift the facility’s finances back into the black.
Hopkins also got back to the basics.
“We’re customer driven here,” he said. “We use the feedback we receive, and I grab the NCOs and we sit down and brainstorm together to see what types of meals actually draw in the headcount and what we can do better from the last time. We also attend the dining facility council meetings. It’s a team effort all around.”
Shift leader Sgt. Herman Smith is one of those NCOs.
“This dining facility is on an up rise. We have new leadership. We have new everything, and starting with that leadership means a lot of changes and changes are good,” Smith said.
“We’ve improved our head count and our actual crowd of diners. More Soldiers are starting to come in and they’re starting to enjoy the food more. We look forward to coming in and cooking everyday because of that. It makes us feel good inside knowing that they love our food.”
The Patriot Garden Dining Facility, located in Bldg. 163, serves breakfast from 7:30 to 9 a.m., lunch from
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and dinner from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
On weekends, brunch is served from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and dinner from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
“Come through our doors and at least experience what we have to offer,” Hopkins said. “We want to be the customer’s No. 1 choice when it comes to dining facilities.”
