STUDENT EXPERIENCE
Restaurant group offered remote learning opportunity during pandemic
Ally Bloss-Baum
Junior, Hospitality Management
Ally Bloss-Baum, a junior in hospitality management, was excited to travel to Chicago this summer for an internship with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (LEYE), a restaurant group in the city. She had worked at an LEYE restaurant in Washington D.C. the previous summer and was excited to return to the company.
Then COVID-19 hit in the spring, and Bloss-Baum quickly realized she would not be able to travel. Luckily, LEYE still wanted to provide a learning opportunity for their interns and created a series of virtual engagement opportunities for them to interact with each other and management at the company.
“Lettuce Entertain You has a company philosophy that focuses on a ‘culture of caring,’ which they impressed on interns like me,” she said. “I was lucky to witness that culture of caring in action this summer during the pandemic.”
Bloss-Baum spent her virtual time with the company engaging in webinars on specific topics, from designing a menu to understanding restaurant architecture and being a good manager. She also worked with other interns in the program to create a restaurant concept from start to finish and present it to the company’s founder and management.
Bloss-Baum said that doing this internship during the pandemic not only taught her about her own work process and the importance of holding herself accountable, but showed her first-hand the dynamics of the restaurant industry.
“I realized that the restaurant industry is extremely resilient. I started this internship at the beginning of June, about three months after the start of the pandemic. By this time, LEYE had already implemented many measures to ensure the safety of its guests, while also opening locations as much as possible. Their commitment to service and safety is honorable, and it demonstrated the resiliency of the company.”
Bloss-Baum said that she felt highly prepared for her virtual internship because of her experience taking HM 329, Introduction to Food Production and Service, and accounting courses. She was also introduced to the recruiter for LEYE, Izzy Shaindlin, through Maria Kim, industry and career services coordinator in the School of Hospitality Management.
“Izzy welcomed me into the company with open arms and made this entire experience possible, which I am so grateful for.
“I wanted to make sure I was getting the most of this learning experience, and although it took extra time and effort, I wanted to succeed.”
Explore other student experiences
The student experience in 2020 was unique in the history of Penn State. Many traditional hallmarks of student life were altered by our inability to gather in large groups. However, our students have shown resilience, tenacity, and the ability to work together. WE ARE…
