Roper's cafeteria undergoes surgery
Well-balanced cuisine global, contemporary
The Post and Courier
Monday, August 25, 2008
Melissa Haneline
The Post and Courier
Nutrition information tags are available for prepared entrees at the new Roper Hospital cafeteria.
Melissa Haneline
The Post and Courier
Chef Eric Rosson serves shrimp dumplings to MUSC medical transcriptionist Margaret 'Alex' Rumburg at the Roper Hospital cafeteria.
If you go
Visitors can check out Roper Hospital's new cafeteria during the following hours: Breakfast: 6:30-10 a.m. daily. Lunch: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. daily. Dinner: 4 p.m.-1 a.m. daily.
Now serving at Roper Hospital: Ischemia stem-cell therapy, CyberKnife robotic radiosurgery and sushi rolls to order. Roper reopened its hospital cafeteria in July after five months of renovation, swapping old-fashioned, buffet-style service for a contemporary food court. In other words, options plenty. A carousel of stations affords diners with items from the deli, grill, pizza oven and rotisserie. But most impressive is Roper's catalog of global cuisine, spanning Italy, the Caribbean, Asia, France, Germany and elsewhere. Chef Maya Morrill paid respect to Cuba earlier this month, preparing a chicken dish with oranges, fresh herbs and garlic. She made mini-Cuban sandwiches and alcaparrado, a sweet-and-salty mix of olives, raisins and capers. Yellow rice and black beans supplied protein. The overall response? "It's been phenomenal," says Ron Roy, Roper's director of support services. "We've seen a roughly 30 percent or greater increase in daily sales." Each Wednesday, a sushi chef makes fresh rolls with brown or white rice. On Thursdays, the cafeteria hosts a wing bar, the chicken dipped in any of six sauces. The salad bar has 30-plus items. And the deli offers 10 — count 'em — 10 types of organic bread. Roy's favorite dish: "I'm like Mikey. I eat everything, but I've been very impressed." An Atlanta-based company called Morrison Management Specialists runs the outfit. Morrison caters to health care systems, providing food, nutrition and cafeteria services to more than 800 acute-care facilities and senior-living communities nationwide. The company incorporates several dining concepts into the facility, offering a balanced-choice program for breakfast and lunch. Nutritional information is posted for many dishes. Braised pork chops with bourbon sage glaze, for instance, contain 434 calories and 24.1 fat grams, the baked fish Veracruz, 145 calories and 2.5 fat grams. Milk comes from hormone-free cows, the eggs from cage-free chickens. And the entrees and specials menu changes daily, repeating in three-week cycles. A few featured items: Cajun-grilled catfish, Mediterranean salmon cakes, falafel pita pockets, beef stroganoff, chicken cacciatore, crab cakes with remoulade sauce and barbecue ribs. To-go meals are available. The variety and convenience attract most diners, the price points are another plus. Morrill's chicken dish sells for $7.29. Sushi costs $5.79. "Our employees are landlocked down here at the end of the peninsula," Roy says. "If you're a nurse or a clinical person, basically you have a 30-minute lunch." Not to say the focus is entirely health-conscious. The cafeteria makes fried chicken, cheeseburgers, hot dogs and a 6-ounce rib-eye steak for breakfast. Tall, decadent whole cakes — coconut frosted yellow cake, carrot cake, lemon-iced cake and more — sell for $33.50 each. Other folks have noticed — Roper's competition included. "You'll see a lot of name tags that aren't like us," says Roy, alluding to the Medical University of South Carolina. "So obviously we've captured their interest." A Tex-Mex station similar to Moe's or Barberito's is scheduled to open by the end of the year. And here's a hint if you're going: Buddy up with someone who works for Roper. They get a 25 percent discount.
Reach Rob Young at 937-5518 or ryoung@postandcourier.com.
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