Food Management Magazine
April, 2005

2005 Best Concepts Award Winners
Top-quality food. Cutting-edge design. Innovative marketing programs.

The idea behind FM's annual Best Concepts awards competition is to recognize readers whose operations demonstrate both leading edge thinking and bottom-line results.Our editors pored over scores of entries to select the winning concepts and organizations that follow.

From left to right: John Lawn, Editor-in-Chief/Associate Publisher, Food Management Magazine; J Michael Floyd, Director, University of Georgia Food Services; Alan Kahn, Senior Director of Marketing, Simplot; Tom McIntyre, Publisher, Food Management Magazine. Director J. Michael Floyd, on behalf of the Food Services project team, accepting Food Management's 2005 Best Concepts Award.

Best Special Event

Let the Argentines Roll!

UGA's theme event found an unusual subject with a great food tie-in

What: Tango Argentina
Where: Bolton, Oglethorpe and Snelling Dining Halls, University of Georgia at Athens
Project Team: J. Michael Floyd (director), Jeanne Fry (assistant director), Susan van Gigch (manager-Bolton Dining Commons), Paul Osterle (Bolton chef), Henry Green, Gregg Hudson, Richard Bohannon

The Big Idea: Theme events can easily get into a repetitive rut, but UGA Dining found a fairly unusual hook — marrying an Argentine "gaucho" theme with a dance instruction event (teaching the tango) and a dinner of Argentinian food. The fairly unique combination more than satisfied the requirement of any theme event in a college dining hall—getting the customers curious, interested and excited to attend. The theme allowed the planners to use original decorations and props centered on gauchos (Argentine cowboys) and the tango, while the tango lessons and subsequent dancing gave participants something to engage in beside simply eating. The food, meanwhile, highlighted the culinary staff's imagination and expertise, with exotic fare such as milanesas (thin, fried cutlets), chorizo sausage, flan and roasted goat.