San Diego Unified’s Sandi Coast Café program was recently featured in Poppy Seeds (Winter 2026), the official journal of the California School Nutrition Association, for bringing state-of-the-art “connected cooking” technology into school kitchens.
The article highlights the district’s rollout of 55 internet-connected iCombi ovens that support steam, convection, and combination cooking – helping ensure consistent food quality across sites, saving staff time through automated cooking programs (including overnight cooking), and enabling the central team to remotely monitor performance and maintenance needs.
The feature also spotlights the cross-team collaboration—led by Chef Juan Zamorano and supported by IT Lead Jason Brown—to scale training, standardize processes, and keep kitchens running smoothly.