Cuisine Solutions announced that Café + Teria will be implemented into three Virginia districts to launch the 2018-2019 school year. The fast-casual school lunch program will expand into Loudoun County and Alexandria City Schools. The pilot program for Café + Teria was introduced to high school students attending Arlington, Virginia’s three public high schools, Wakefield, Yorktown and Washington-Lee in 2017 after a brainstorming forum which was held with Cuisine Solutions and 10 of Virginia’s school districts and food management companies. Due to the success of this fresh lunch experience, Arlington County is commencing their second year of Café + Teria on September 4 as the high schools reopen. New additions to the program in 2018 include the Italian bowl, featuring a basil vinaigrette and whole grain pasta. Additionally, T.C. Williams High School, King Street Campus, will begin the school year on September 4 with Café + Teria offered daily. This healthy lunch offering, which mirrors a fast-casual restaurant appealing to young diners, will travel to various secondary schools in Alexandria City throughout the year. “The option of customization is exactly what students have been requesting. Plus, contributing back to the local economy in the process is an added bonus!” states Alexandria City Public Schools Nutrition Coordinator Robyn Douglas. At each Café +Teria, students select ingredients in four steps to build a nutritious meal by picking a base of grain, salad or a wrap; a protein: antibiotic-free chicken, ground beef, or Paneer cheese; a topping of vegetables, cheese and sauces, and a dressing. Every Café +Teria in the Virginia districts will have a serving line with bold graphics that invite exploration with a distinctive, modern look. The concept for this innovative school lunch program is designed around using Cuisine Solutions’ proteins, exclusively. Café + Teria’s protein choices will all be prepared with the sous-vide method, which fully cooks and pasteurizes the food. Sous-vide is French for "under vacuum" which describes a cooking technique in which food is vacuum-sealed, then slow cooked in hot water. Cuisine Solutions, the world’s leading expert in sous-vide cooking, pioneered, perfected and popularized sous-vide, which allows for food to cook at a steady temperature to retain nutrients, flavors and moisture that are often lost during conventional cooking techniques. Café + Teria will also provide students with additional allotted amounts of vegetables and will likely increase their consumption through this program. It also provides a more modern dining experience with several different international cuisine types including Mexican, Indian, Asian, Mediterranean and Caribbean to address menu fatigue. Parents will see Café + Teria as a consistent fresh dining option that their children will appreciate. Cuisine Solutions is also providing the school partners with the recipes, standard operating procedures, name brand and marketing materials to support the new program. Café + Teria resembles a franchise for schools, which can be replicated at any school district in the country. Cuisine Solutions’ chefs and its Café + Teria team will continue to source product selections with recipe creations that will appeal to students and provide healthy, quality, delicious options with pleasing combinations, incorporating local produce from area farms for the toppings. The recipes are also low in sodium, fat and sugar. Additionally, dressing recipes and ingredient combinations for each type of cuisine were developed through The Culinary Research and Education Academy (CREA), the global leader in culinary research, education and consulting, and the sister company to Cuisine Solutions.