What’s Next for Epicurean Group
A New Year Local Comeback Interview with the Co-Founders of Epicurean Group
Thanks to the Epicurean Group, an inventive on-site food service provider, predictable cafeteria food has been replaced by chef-crafted dishes to elevate mealtime inside many Silicon Valley institutions, from schools to companies. Using only fresh, natural and organic ingredients, this local food service and catering company contracts to set up cafés, themed kitchens and meals to delight the taste buds of office workers, students and retirees.
With the onset of the pandemic, many of the dining rooms the Epicurean Group serves closed down. We spoke with co-founders Mary Clark Bartlett, Rey Hernandez and Marvin Rodriguez to find out how the Epicurean Group has reinvented its food delivery system, reinforced food safety measures and continues to champion sustainable dining.
Edible: Tell us about Epicurean Group’s local roots and how your business brings value to the community.
Epicurean: We began as a startup in downtown Los Altos in 2003, and we largely work with academic and corporate businesses here in the Silicon Valley to set up, run and operate on-site cafés and food services.
When we set up operations in education or corporate accounts, we teach practices and principles around obtaining and sourcing food locally. We work directly with family farms and local purveyors to support the local economy. We are probably the first contract food service in Santa Clara County that has been green-certified, and that’s very important to us.
At the Epicurean Group we’re very much focused on sustainable food practices and how that connects to us locally, so we have coordinated several farm-to-table dinners with the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau and the Community Alliance with Family Farmers. As part of Slow Food International, we’ve gone to Italy several times and brought back ancient grains to the Bay Area. We also reintroduced slow beans like Jacob’s Cattle Beans, which hadn’t been seen in California for a long time.
Edible: In light of the pandemic, what safety measures have you taken to ensure your food services are presented safely to customers?
Epicurean: When COVID-19 happened, we went immediately into teaching safety practices to all of our managers and employees. We have a safety checklist and a COVID-19 safety pledge to guide us through social distance and safe dining.
China, silverware and glasses had to go by the wayside. The queues in our operations also had to change to accommodate social-distancing protocols. We are bringing in lots of plastic partitions to protect servers, cashiers and our customers. Luckily, we already use compostable and biodegradable products, so we feel good about plating our food with them.
For serving food, we realized we needed to architect and engineer a new model of food delivery. We went heavily into the online delivery system to eliminate touchpoints. The model is based on preorder, prepay and a delivery system.
Edible: What do you want customers to take away from their experience with Epicurean Group?
Epicurean: A lot of people tell us they thought the food was fantastic and some ask, “How did you make that?” One of our chefs says the organic mac and cheese he makes is so good because he adds love to the dish. We want people to experience a friendly, welcoming environment and food that’s just simply good food.
Our goal is to work with our creative industry clients to offer delicious and smart food choices that make people feel good about their food. Culture is the driving force behind creativity. For great ideas to come to fruition and to grow, you need to bring people together. A lot of great ideas come up in casual conversations over a cup of coffee, a glass of wine or a bite of ice cream. We know good food brings people together.
"We want people to experience a friendly, welcoming environment and food that’s just simply good food."
- Mary Clark Bartlett, Epicurean Group
Edible: How can people best support you right now?
Epicurean: The best way our food service clients can support us is to communicate their future plans and current needs with us. We really like to customize café programs that match the values and work experiences for each of our client locations. We want to work with existing and potential clients to reimagine their food service because not everyone will be able to provide food the way they have in the past. For example, we are wrapping up and retooling a big Santa Clara based takeaway program for corporate accounts who are willing to serve their employees at home. We’ll use popular delivery platforms here in the Bay Area to deliver food directly to workers.
Edible: Is there anything else you want to share with us?
Epicurean: Yes, we have won several awards over the years for our innovative programs and accomplishments in food service, and are proud of our chefs, teams and the communities we serve. We have been ranked as one of the top 50 food management companies for seven consecutive years because of our quality and ability to maintain customers and grow our business. We received the Governor’s Environmental & Economic Leadership Award for our Waste Not Program and are Bay Area Green Business Certified by the County of Santa Clara Green Business Program.
Our Sustainability Pledge speaks to our values for the local plate and the planet; including transparency in telling our customers exactly where our food comes from. We’ve added a COVID-19 Safety Pledge to demonstrate our commitment for food safety, and be something that diners and clients can trust as we reopen and operate our on-site cafés. This pandemic has been something that no one ever planned for whatsoever. We are ready to work through it and continue to serve our mission.
