Gourmet dining halls

Some of my fondest memories of freshmen year involve sitting at the dining hall and eating with my friends.

Cheese fries, pizza, hamburgers, fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies, cherry cokes -- we ate and drank it all.

Sure healthy options were available -- a salad bar, sandwiches, fresh fruit -- but for better or for worse, we usually opted for the crap.

At the time I complained about the dining hall and it's food (probably while stuffing a grilled cheese in my mouth). Looking back now I realize I had so many choices I did not bother exploring.

I know they're not gourmet but for cafeterias Northeastern's two dining halls are pretty damn good. Business Week even gave the food an A- in 2006. So Northeastern students are pretty lucky.

Or that's what I thought until I saw this article in the New York Times.

Apparently, at several schools stir fry is out and lobster and sushi are in. Some high seniors are not even applying to certain universities because cafeteria isn't to their liking. In addition, florescent lights and your average caf seatings are no longer acceptable.

So what, where and how are these top-tier dining halls serving?

Here's an example from the article:

Stanford offers “spa waters,” mineral water with cucumber, watermelon, mint and other flavors. The University of Massachusetts at Amherst shares guest chefs with eight colleges. Yale has an organic cafe. Brown has a farmers’ market. At Wheaton College in Illinois, low-carbon meals use local and organic food; students can choose Thursday dinners illuminated only by the lights outside.

Also, if you're interested, here's a list of the top 20 Best Campus Foods in 2008 -- and a list of the worst -- according to The Princeton Review. (Northeastern didn't make it on either one.)

While granted the schools with the most lavish menus also receive some of the highest endowments, I think they're going a bit too far to attract students. What's next? Formal attire to the dining hall dinner table?

I could just be bitter filet mignon was not on the menu my first year but I think even if it were, I probably still would've chosen the greasy fries. ... Maybe?

At least I don't have to deal with the transition of having a gourmet chef prepare my meals one year to having to eat my own cooking the next.

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The image above is by Paul Watson (cc) and republished here under a Creative Commons license. Some rights reserved.