(Above) Jerusalem, a small and easily missed eatery, serves up authentic Lebanese food and is known for their baklava, a combination of flakey phyllo dough, salty walnuts and sweet honey caramel.

Diversity at DU is found in the kitchen rather than the classroom

The University of Denver is a predominately white institution. However, in the neighboring streets, there are numerous cultures represented by way of restaurants. Students have the opportunity to explore the globe without traveling more than a mile away.

The racial breakdown of DU undergraduate students is an unsurprising statistic with the majority of undergraduate students identifying as white at 69%. The most underrepresented students are Pacific Islanders and Native Americans, who are present in under 0.5% of the student body. African American and Black students make up a statistically small piece of DU as well; with just over 100 students, they account for under 2%. Finally, the Latinx community represents a little above 9% of the community, while international students are found at 8%.

This predominantly white makeup explains some of the meal options offered right next to campus. Greasy American guilty pleasures are housed at Fat Shack, which specializes in anything fried from mozzarella sticks to chicken fingers. They even deep-fry Oreos for dessert. A couple of restaurants down is a typical hot dog joint called Mustard’s Last Stand.* Their love for midwestern, Chicago style fare is ever-present in their menu of ballpark Vienna beef dogs and Italian beef sandwiches.

Despite being one of the least diverse campuses in the country, traditional Indian, Lebanese, Mexican and Chinese restaurants have also decided to call this neighborhood home.

“The international students become very homesick being so far away from their families, but after one taste of some of our dishes, they tell me they feel like it’s their grandma cooking in the kitchen,” said Michael Ma, chef and owner of Yum Yum Spice, a traditional Chinese Szechuan style restaurant. “It’s amazing when they try our food for the first time and are surprised by how much it takes them right back home.”

Yum Yum Spice is one of several ethnic restaurants that have decided to give a location by DU a shot and seen it pay off tremendously. The restaurant has been passed down by generations and continues to cater to the hungry student body.

They pull recipes from ancestors who lived in a culture that prioritized bold flavors coupled with spice. Yum Yum Spice has two menus to offer diners, one serving as a true emblem of their Szechuan culture and the other as a hybrid that caters to the American palate. This offers an easy transition from comfortable fare to delicious, authentic Chinese cuisine. American-Chinese food has coined orange chicken, but their dry pot is composed of wok-fried aromatics like garlic, ginger and chili that pairs with any protein.

(Above) Yum Yum Spice’s traditional drypot dish served in a miniature wok to represent its special cooking vessel. 

Jerusalem Restaurant has been providing authentic Lebanese food for more than 40 years.

“This restaurant opened because we wanted to start a dialogue between different cultures,” says owner, Ruba Wahdan. “Many people have tried food from all over Europe, but they haven’t gone as far as the Middle East just yet, and that’s why we are here.”

Their chicken and beef skewers—known as kabob—might not be all that outlandish for some, but the staff also shows their expertise by preparing more unique protein options. They stuff cornish hens with rice and lentils, a combination that strays from the typical turkey stuffed with bread. They add warming spices like paprika and allspice to their stuffing mixture, as well as tomatoes and onions for a vibrant tomato sauce. The result is a succulent miniature chicken, bursting with flavor.

Jerusalem also tries to incorporate Colorado flavor into their menu, too. “Typically, Lebanese food is prepared with a mixture of oils, and it tastes amazing that way. But we know that Colorado is filled with healthy eaters, so we have tried to take the recipes we know and adapt them to fit this lifestyle,” said Wahdan on behalf of her team. They enjoy this intertwining of two places that mean so much to them.

Both Yum Yum Spice and Jerusalem have a history of feeding the DU community. They paved the way for other ethnic restaurants to present their culture to all those who are willing to explore it. Serene Cuisine of India opened its doors on University Boulevard a little over a year and a half ago with the intention of bringing its food to one of America’s biggest melting pots.

Owners Amarendra Sarma and Niru Basne saw how many ethnic groups were represented in Denver and believed their love for Indian cuisine would fit right in. “We want diners to enjoy our food and the cultural experience that it brings. These recipes don’t just need a certain spice mix—they need attention and techniques learned from watching our families make it.”

Diners are able to embark on this culinary experience with the Serene staff when they order dishes cooked in a traditional Tandor oven. These aren’t average electric ovens—instead, they are made from clay, and one opening at the top creates an intense heat from the fire beneath. They stick naan and roti bread to the edges and skewer meat for the perfect caramelization.

(Above) A clay tandoor oven is one of the primary cooking vessels in Indian culture. This one has naan bread bubbling as it cooks along the side. 

These restaurants demonstrate that people bring their culture wherever they go. Food is a tangible way to express one’s culture and connect with the feeling of home even in the most remote places. 

“It’s the last vestige of culture that people shed,” said Jennifer Berg, New York University’s director of graduate food studies. People often lose the way they dress or speak due to assimilation, but food can bring memories back with one taste. It can also create memories for the first time when people break from their comfort zones with new food.

“I have definitely expanded my comfort zone with food, especially through the convenience of having it here on campus,” said Meg Halvorson, a senior at DU. “My family is from Norway, but we rarely eat traditional Norwegian or Scandinavian food at home. Here at DU, my friends and I go to Jerusalem religiously. I like the spice in the gyro platter, [as] it’s definitely not something I could make at home.”

Not everyone is a chef by nature which can make home-cooked meals repetitive. Since the campus area has outlets for cultural engagement, students are utilizing the opportunity. 

“As an International Studies major, I love traveling and immersing in other cultures. But with COVID-19, that can’t happen right now,” said Jackson Garske, a junior who planned to study abroad this past fall quarter. “It’s not like exploring the markets in Thailand, but eating the pho from Pho Saigon Star is far from the chicken soup my mom used to make, and I love that.”

Both Halvorson and Garske feel lucky to have these resources because it would be easy to fall back on fast food chains without them. The food scene offers students the excitement of trying Osaka street food like takoyaki, pancake balls with fried octopus, topped with an umami sauce and creamy Kewpie mayo from Tokyo Bowl. They have the luxury to try tender beef tongue wrapped inside a corn tortilla from Tacos El Metate.

The level of diversity living within the classroom walls of DU is subpar. And the University would do well to take some notes from the lively diversity growing just down the street.

*The name Mustard’s Last Stand may be an overstatement. The original shop is a hot dog slinging joint on Northwestern’s campus in Evanston, IL. The name was picked by a contest winner. It is a play on words associated with General Custer’s last stand, known as Battle of Little Bighorn, and represents the fight between Native Americans and American troops. 

There is a student-led resistance group, RAHR, fighting for DU to reckon with its oppressive history and forgo the use of the Pioneer moniker. Their call to action continues, as administration has yet to implement their demands to create justice. It makes one wonder whether there will be a fight to change the name of Mustard’s Last Stand as well because of the history it holds.