October 4, 2004
Today's college dining not your father's cafeteria anymore
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A delicious revolution is under way on college campuses across the nation. Dining facilities that offer traditional to gourmet, healthy to hearty, cooked-on-demand meals are replacing the institutional starchy foods and the one-menu-fits-all regimen of the past.
|
Purdue is among the universities serving up the changes in the way they serve student diners.
"Students who eat here find it's not their fathers' college cafeteria anymore," said Sarah Johnson, director of dining services for Purdue University Residences. "In their parents' days, there was limited menu choice. Mealtime was short and rigid, and they had to eat in the housing unit to which they were assigned. Now, the focus is on quality and choices: in food, hours, locations.
"Our students are accustomed to eating out far more than their parents ever were, and they expect to be treated like customers. They also are more health conscious. Our new dining courts are overwhelmingly popular with them."
|
Three new-style dining courts have opened on the Purdue campus of 38,000 students in the past two years – the most recent one this fall – with two more planned to open by 2007. The five new dining courts – a marketplace of as many as eight serving stations devoted to various genres of food – will replace 11 old-style, straight-line cafeterias.
Food selections also are more contemporary, freshly prepared meals that cater to a wide variety of student tastes. The result is an upscale dining venue that is more like a restaurant than an institutional cafeteria.
"These dining services are so popular, it's not uncommon for the three new dining courts to serve 16,000 people in a day, 89 percent of our total," Johnson said. "Students come from all over campus to these new courts in appreciation of what we have to offer."
|
Selections at the new dining court include: hearth-baked pizzas; Southeast Asian dishes cooked in woks; home-style entrees, hot vegetables and carved meats; greens, fresh vegetables, fruit and soups; fried and grilled foods; sliced meat and cheese; international wraps and made-to-order entrée salads; Black Angus hamburgers, oven smoked ribs and grilled chicken breasts; fresh waffles; and a wide variety of desserts including fresh-baked pies, self-serve hand-dipped and soft ice cream and the court's signature cookies that measure about six inches across.
Purdue's other two modern dining courts have their specialties as well, such as Mongolian barbeque.
Attention also has been paid to ambiance and decor.
One of Purdue's renovated dining facilities in September won two awards for design, including an international design award from The Foodservice Consultants Society International and an outstanding project award from the American School and University Magazine.
From color to texture, lighting to comfort, the new dining courts are very inviting, Johnson said. Diners can choose to sit at tables and chairs, barstools, booths and banquettes.
"It's all about choices," she said.
Writer: Jeanne Norberg, (765) 494-2084, (765) 449-4986 (home), jnorberg@purdue.edu
Source: Sarah Johnson, (765) 494-1000, scjohnson@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
Related Web sites:
Earhart Dining Court wins awards
Stadium Avenue Dining Court opens
Purdue dedicates itself to the future of college dining
PHOTO CAPTION 1:
Gayle Russell, dining court associate, and Mike Smith, student supervisor, serve food to other University Residences employees on the first day of operation for a new dining court on Purdue University's West Lafayette, Ind., campus. (News Service file photo/Dave Umberger)
A publication-quality photograph is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2004/foodcourt-potato.jpg
PHOTO CAPTION 2:
An exterior view of the newest dining court for Purdue University Residences on the West Lafayette, Ind., campus. The marketplace-style dining court is the third of five to open at Purdue, providing a new era in dining choices for college students. (News Service file photo/Dave Umberger)
A publication-quality photograph is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2004/foodcourt-ext.jpg
PHOTO CAPTION 3:
Purdue students can choose from eight stations at the award-winning Earhart Dining Court, including the Souper Deli. The upgraded dining facility recently won two awards for outstanding design. (Purdue News Service file photo/David Umberger)
A publication-quality photograph is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2004/earhart-award.jpg
To the News Service home page