The town of West Hartford is taking a prominent role in the movement to bring healthier, better-tasting foods to schoolchildren in an effort to set better eating patterns that hopefully will last for life. This has been one of First Lady Michelle Obama’s pet projects, called the Chefs Move To Schools Initiative. Last year, Billy Grant of the Grant Restaurant Group (Restaurant Bricco, Grants and Bricco Trattoria) was one of an elite group of chefs invited to Washington D.C. to confer with the First Lady.
Afterward, Grant and other prominent local chefs worked selflessly with nutrition workers from the West Hartford Public Schools to create healthy lunch options for schoolchildren. On Friday, October 28th, a tasting was scheduled at Conard High School
and the public was invited. Adults were admitted for $5, children were free. Eager to see what kind of fruit these efforts were bearing, I headed to Conard with my best friend and school-aged daughter in tow. I took numerous photos of schoolchildren in an effort to convey the experience through their eyes.
First, we checked in at the reception table.
We noticed many interesting displays in the corridor,
including this one recognizing a culinary career path (not in my day)
and this talented artwork presumably by Conard students.
I saw this group of people being photographed and, without knowing who they were, piggybacked on the other photographer.
Later, their role in the event became clear to me.
We headed to the auditorium
for introductions and a film. After everyone got settled into seats,
the audiovisual equipment was readied and the crowd steadied by Master of Ceremonies, local resident and co-anchor Brad Drazen of NBC Connecticut News Today.
Then the stage was set (metaphorically)
for the introduction of the local chefs who had given so generously of their time and expertise.
These included Hunter Morton from Max Downtown in Hartford,
Grant,
Adam Greenberg from Barcelona Wine Bar in West Hartford,
Dorjan Puka from Treva in West Hartford,
and Christopher Torla from Trumbull Kitchen in Hartford.
Then other participating chefs were invited down to the stage
for recognition by the crowd.
And finally, the video was shown.
When the presentation was complete, the crowd was divided into two groups according to the color of their admission tickets. We were grateful to be in the first group, which got to try the food first, while the second group was directed to the activities in the corridor. Quite a line formed outside the cafeteria.
Some who were waiting enjoyed a bird’s-eye view.
Some at floor level amused themselves checking out the menu.
It dawned on me that, waiting with my friend and daughter, I wasn’t in good position to take photographs, so I abandoned them and entered the kitchen. Here’s what the line looked like from the inside.
Fortunately, it moved surprisingly rapidly.
When my daughter and friend had reached the cafeteria, I joined them in line and took more photographs from a customer’s point of view.
I even poked my head into the gleaming kitchen.
There was also a salad island
that drew interest from the competition at NBC Connecticut (boy was I outgunned).
But as delicious as the salad was,
the fruit station seemed to draw more interest from children.
My friend, my daughter and I headed into the huge dining room,
where we found a place to set down our food trays.
We saw that everyone seemed to be enjoying the experience—and the food!—as much as we were.
Our education continued through well-placed signage.
This lovely gal even rewarded us for trying something new.
And while I’m not giving a detailed critique of the food, because this is one time my opinion didn’t matter, I can say that everything was delicious and, after the second wave of people got their crack at the food, I went back for seconds of almost everything. Even my daughter liked several of the food items.
Here’s how it looked when that second wave of people hit.
Soon, the second wave crested in the dining room,
while those from the first wave voted for their favorite foods on their way out.
I then adjourned to the main corridor to see what had kept the second wave of people content while the first wave feasted. It turned out the blue-uniformed individuals whom I photographed at the beginning were volunteers from Central Connecticut’s physical education program. And so I found children (and a few children at heart) stretching,
balancing,
hula hooping,
playing games,
or just waiting out the storm.
All of this great fun was in support of an even greater cause—fostering good eating habits (and exercise) in our youth. The event that West Hartford staged could serve as a model to Connecticut’s other 168 towns. Thanks are due to all of those whose efforts made this possible.