Feeding a ravenous group of teenagers can be a daunting task but one that the Youth Olympic Village (YOV) for the 2nd Youth Olympic Games Nanjing 2014 is ready to face. Throughout the YOV dining operations from 10 to 30 August 2014, 600 chefs and 500 staff and volunteers will provide meals for up to 6000 residents daily. The chefs, made up of professionals and culinary school trainees from Beijing and Nanjing, will prepare 60 breakfast dishes, 80 dishes for each lunch and dinner session and 45 supper options.
“The four dining halls are situated in building No.1 and can cater to a total of 2800 diners at one time,” says DING Qing (CHN), the spokeswoman for the YOV. This building is also the location for the Chat with Champions programme, an after-dinner treat where the young athletes can meet with their sports heroes.
Meal times are from 05.00 to 01.00, and cover breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper but there are no limits on the number of times a YOV resident can go for a meal as food will be served throughout the day. Food is served buffet style, and categorised according to different cuisine types such as Mediterranean, Asian, Chinese and Continental, with separate sections for desserts and cold dishes. “The menu has been approved by the IOC and is repeated every six days,” says MO Jiaxin (CHN), the deputy athletes’ dining hall manager.
Arrangements have been made to cater to special dietary needs such as vegetarians and people requiring halal meals. “All dishes will be labelled with the name of the dish and the ingredients to alert the diners to anything they may want to avoid,” DING says.
Measures have also been taken to ensure food safety requirements are met. “To avoid contamination, we do not allow food to be taken outside the dining halls. All hot food must be removed after four hours and cold food, after two hours,” MO explains.
In addition to serving ready meals, the food and beverage team will also hold Healthy Cooking Workshops to educate the young athletes on proper nutrition, and how to cook and eat healthily.
