The Hamlet Syndrome and String Cheese
In a past life I was a Personal Chef, catering dinner parties in Chicago’s hoity toity neighborhoods. Other than business insurance and color flyers to post on Whole Foods’ bulletin boards, one of the requirements of starting my little business was to get certified in food safety. Basically, the food safety course was 5 straight days of repeating phrases like, “Keep the hot food hot, keep the cold food cold, and don’t spit in the food.” I passed the exam, you’ll be happy to know.
We at Choicelunch have long wanted to serve entrees that combined both hot and cold together. The trick is keeping the hot food hot and the cold food cold. That means investing in expensive equipment, like mobile ovens and keeping the lunch components separate. We have a pretty smooth operation with a streamlined process, though, so the idea of having an entrée with separate components was kind of scary. Would the volunteers at the lunch counter get confused and only give one item, not both? Would the distribution be too time-consuming, causing long lines? Would the kids even be able to carry a hot item, a side dish, a snack, a fruit, a veggie and a drink?
After years of debating these questions, this fall we decided to take some risks. We added three menu items that combine both hot and cold pieces: the bagel dog with coleslaw (using yogurt for part of the dressing) as well as Chipotle-like chicken and carnitas burritos with hand chopped pico de gallo. We didn’t just complicate the entrée menu, but we added a cold snack item, string cheese, to our snack variety basket.
Do you know about the ‘Hamlet Syndrome’ or analysis paralysis? It means that if you overthink something too much, you might never take action. By all accounts, our fears were unfounded. It turns out that with enough preparation and communication, you can make changes without causing chaos. Kids can carry lots of stuff. Grabbing a cup of coleslaw doesn’t in fact create a never-ending bottleneck and parent volunteers are happy to follow distribution directions if you spell them out clearly. Yes, in the first week of school, we got noontime calls from volunteers at the counter, “what are we supposed to do with these containers of salsa you sent for lunch?” But all in all, parents and kids have liked the menu enhancements. Lines are getting faster, and we are buying up string cheese sticks by the truck load.
Now that we have figured out that this can work, just imagine the possibilities! Tomato soup with a roll? Chili with cornbread? What would you like to see on the menu?
