Forget the turkey and mashed potatoes — residence hall diners are savoring the new flavors of vegetarian pastry and Lebanese chicken this term.
Tom Driscoll, the new food services director for University Housing, originally from Santa Cruz, Calif., is part of the reason eateries at the University are seeing a change of pace.
Driscoll has been in the restaurant business most of his life. He previously worked for Olive Garden restaurants in Beaverton, Salem, and Olympia, Wash., along with the Oliveto restaurant in Berkeley, Calif.
“It’s different, because in the restaurant business people want things to be consistent,” Driscoll said. “The challenge for us is offering variety to students, meeting their expectations in quality and keeping it up for 3,000 people, three times a day.”
Driscoll said now that he is in his “dream job,” he can do what he enjoys in a large-scale environment without having to move.
“We are extremely excited to have him here,” said Tenaya Meaux, marketing director for University Housing. “He has come up with some great ideas, and we can’t wait to see what else he has in store for us.”
As part of University Housing’s goal to spice up meals and add the familiarity of home cooking, it is bringing students’ favorite family recipes from home to the campus dining centers. Students and families were asked to submit their favorite recipes on “What’s Cooking?” cards before the school year began. More than 60 recipes were submitted in response.
“I think for some students it can be a difficult transition to move away from home and not have meals cooked by Mom,” Meaux said. “So to ease any homesickness, we decided to being Mom’s home cooking to the University.”
Lindsey Munce, a freshman psychology major, was excited that her mother’s unique recipe for Lebanese chicken was chosen to be translated and served to the 3,000 people who eat at University dining centers three times a day.
“My mom is a gourmet cook [at home], and it was difficult from having what she made every night of the week to cafeteria food,” Munce said.
Munce said the kitchen staff worked on the recipe all day to make it perfect.
“It’s a bit of a challenge taking a recipe made for three pounds of chicken and take it out for 350 pounds,” Driscoll said.
Munce went home to Mukilteo, Wash., the weekend before the meal was served in the dining centers to try her mother’s Lebanese chicken.
As she was trying the chicken during a taste test at Carson dining hall, her mother called Munce on her cellular phone, and the two shared the moment together. Munce said the dish really tasted like her mother’s chicken.
During the University’s Fall Family Weekend, freshman Sara Olsher enjoyed her mother’s “Easy Vege Squares,” a vegetarian pastry, at brunch on Oct. 21.
On Oct. 26, students sampled baked ziti, a pasta with ricotta cheese, herbs and tomato sauce.
In addition, Driscoll said food services provides sushi on Fridays. Rice is offered three meals a day as a staple food for international students. Kim chi, a Korean relish, is available every day in the salad bar.
The gourmet fare in the dining hall won’t be a temporary change. As more favorite family recipes are submitted, University Housing meal planners will test them to see if the dining population enjoys them.