Soka Bistro

SERVING STUDENTS WITH FOOD ALLERGIES AND CELIAC DISEASE 

The dining services team is well-trained in food allergy awareness and offer a number of options for students with food allergies and celiac disease. This includes communication about and modification to existing menu items, special preparation of menu items, and access to special products as agreed upon with students.

Daily menus for each café can be accessed at soka.cafebonappetit.com. Menu items that are appropriate options for most students with celiac disease are labeled as “made without gluten-containing ingredients” and can be filtered to streamline searching using the dietary preferences filter. Top-9 allergens are included in menu names and/or descriptions whenever possible and questions about ingredients can be answered by our trained managers/chefs on-site. For more on eating with a food allergy in our café, visit this page and view the guide on food allergies and celiac disease at Soka University of America.

For questions about these services or to request food allergy accommodations, students should contact:

Alvaro Ruiz  | General Manager Alvaro.Ruiz@cafebonappetit.com

Miguel Rubio | Executive Chef Miguel.Rubio@cafebonappetit.com

Melanie Berdyck, MS, RD, CSOWM, LDN, CDCES  | Regional Wellness Manager melanie.berdyck@cafebonappetit.com

Book a 30-minute session to help us understand your dietary needs

Brian Durick | Director of Student Services bdurick@soka.edu

Bon Appétit at Soka University of America is fighting food waste and hunger by recovering surplus perishable food from our campus that would otherwise go to waste and donating it to people in need through Chefs to End Hunger.

Chefs to End Hunger. Fighting food waste and hunger since 2012.
This organization is about empowering chefs to easily and efficiently use the resources already at their disposal and repurposed food currently going to waste to join in the fight to end hunger and make a real cumulative impact daily. Chefs to End Hunger currently operates in California, Nevada, and Arizona, and aims to one day be implemented nation wide.

Learn more about the Food Recovery Network
and Bon Appétit’s food recovery efforts

When it comes to wellness, Bon Appétit’s focus is on simple, delicious food — that happens to be good for you. To support long-term health, we are bringing more plants to menus every day in a craveable way, while emphasizing healthy cooking techniques. When healthy food tastes good, nourishing your body and mind becomes the easy choice.

We serve thousands of guests with food allergies and sensitivities safely in our cafés every day. Our chefs, managers, and dietitians work closely with our food-allergic guests to create reasonable solutions to help them eat what they love. If you have questions about eating for your dietary needs in our cafés, reach out to us: we’ll gladly meet with you.

Wellness also includes the health of the animals, the workers, the community, and the Earth. They’re all connected. Bon Appétit has been committed to “food service for a sustainable future” for decades, and we’ve led the food service industry in tackling many important issues, such as cage-free eggs, antibiotics in animal production, and farmworker rights.