Photo by: Michael Furman
By the end of the quarter, you may not recognize cafeteria food on the DU campus. Sodexo is implementing a new program to deliver more authentic cuisine to students.
The program, which will bring healthy, authentic and fresh cafeteria food to students, will be implemented into menus gradually over the coming weeks, according to Jeff Lougee, the Sodexo district manager.
“We’re trying more diverse menus,” Lougee said. “We’ve hired celebrity chefs to train and share recipes with our staff.”
Twenty-five members of the DU Dining Services staff met on Friday to learn how to cook new recipes.
Three of these new dishes will cycle into menus by March. Expect to see Vietnamese food – shrimp and pork spring rolls, green chicken curry and pho, a beef and noodle soup – served in cafeterias around campus.
These dishes, created by Mai Pham, the chef of the acclaimed Lemon Grass Restaurant in Sacramento, come as the first of many recipes by celebrity chefs. Sodexo has also begun to employ recipes by Roberto Santibañez, whose recipes have been published in Gourmet, Bon Appetit and Martha Stewart Living magazines.
“We are looking for chefs with a reputation,” said Nori Yamashita, the general manager of DU Dining Services.
Freshman Adam Rosen was able to sample Mai Pham’s pho dish at Sidelines Pub campus restaurant during the winter training lunch break. (He did not try the green curry or shrimp and pork spring rolls because of a food allergy.)
“It’s interesting, and it has a very mild flavor,” said Rosen, who has never eaten pho. “It seems like an interesting take on Chicken Noodle soup but radically changed.”
Rosen said he would certainly eat the pho if it were served in any of the cafeterias.
“For freshmen, leaving home is always exciting. Going into the dining hall and eating whatever you want is exciting,” said Yamashita, who eats lunch on campus during the week. “Then once the freshmen get back from break, from Mom’s home cooking, they get bored with the food in the cafeteria.”
That’s why DU Dining Services is implementing these new menu options, Yamashita said.
Changes in the dining halls’ food service may not stop there, according to Yamashita. DU Dining Services is investigating the idea of using guest chefs in the dining halls. Within a year, these chefs – likely from local restaurants – will hopefully do a demo in the Halls cafeteria, he said.
