Dickstein Shapiro Law Firm

Dickstein Shapiro moved into International Square on K Street in Washington, D.C.  An aspect of the renovation of the space formerly occupied by the IMF was to gut and redesign its cafeteria. This in-house cafeteria needed to compete successfully with a large public food court on the ground floor. To maximize the benefit of the Dickstein Shapiro foodservice system, HOPKINS was asked to lead the search for a full-time operator. When the project was in full-swing, the client expressed its delight that the entire spectrum of employees from top attorneys to admin assistants at Dickstein Shapiro enjoyed dining together for the first time. The cafeteria successfully changed the culture of the firm.

Related Work

Design

New York Academies of Science

The Academies sold its historic building to move into the World Trade Center 7, the first building to replace the fallen towers. The finishing kitchen was to support New York Academies events and be used by outside organizations as well, with the idea that the space could be rented as an income generator for the organization. The Academies asked HOPKINS to perform a City-wide RFP search for the ideal caterer. The two-month process involved multiple site visits, tastings and interviews and resulted in finding a fulltime operator, rather than a part time caterer. The chosen operator brought the advantage of being able to market the venue to outside groups as well.

Operator Selection

Corporate Executive Board (CEB)

The Corporate Executive Board is an association of the highest executives of Fortune 500 companies who meet in Washington, DC several times a year to discuss their issues and earn from each other. In the Foggy Bottom home for many years, Susan Cage was the caterer of choice who brought the kind of high-end gourmet meals that their illustrious members were accustomed to. When they decided to make the move to an I.M. Pei designed building in Roslyn, Virginia the CEB included a staff cafeteria, designed by HOPKINS with Gensler. Towards the end of the design process, CEB asked HOPKINS directly to lead the process of identifying a high-end operator which could manage both the in-house cafeteria and the member events.

Design

National Cancer Institute

Because poor diet and obesity are causal factors for various forms of cancer and many other diseases, when the National Cancer Institute, was given an opportunity to plan its first in-house cafeteria, they took the project very seriously. HOPKINS was brought in to perform an extensive planning effort. NCI wanted to provide an environment in which visitors and staff could make optimal food choices, model behaviors that reduce risk for cancer and other diseases, and increase wellness. The healthy choice was to be the easy choice.