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The new Defender Café officially opened Nov. 20, during a ribbon cutting ceremony to a crowd of hungry patrons.
“This ribbon cutting ceremony is a celebration for food service as we formally introduce the Kaiserslautern Military Community to the Defender Café and recognize the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command’s continued dedication to food service excellence, to the Soldiers, family members and the civilians of the community,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Gayann Eccleston, command food advisory assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 10th AAMDC.
Eccleston said there are several unique things about the new dining facility.
“There are several self-serve bars that are available to the customer such as a pizza bar with calzones that are made with fresh dough daily by members of our staff,” she said.
There are also more head count stations in the event of holiday meals, additional space for the customers, more drink stations and high top seating, according to Eccleston.
“We also look forward to adding [Armed Forces Network] back in the dining facility as well as adding in Wi-Fi.”
Sgt. 1st Class Tracey Carr, dining facility manager, assigned to 92nd Military Police Company, said the new dining facility is bigger than the last and offers more improvements.
“In this new dining facility, we hope to bring a greater variety for the Soldiers, improving the environment and the morale by offering them better quality and versatile food choices in the hopes of making them feel more comfortable in a restaurant environment.”
Special guest speaker Col. David Shank, commander of the 10th AAMDC, thanked everyone for coming out to the ceremony.
“This is a big day. It took us over two years to move about 400 meters,” Shank said. “Construction began in 2015, and today is that day that we will cut that ribbon and will officially open the Defender Café. It does not go unnoticed the hard work [done] by the food service employees in the variety of uniforms.”
The Defender Café is run by a staff of 10 military personnel, 20 contracted cooks and around 18 dining facility attendants, Eccleston said.
Hours of operation are: Breakfast 7 to 9 a.m.; lunch 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and dinner 4:30 to 6 p.m.
