The Birch Dining Commons, with the exception of their pesto paninis, garlic knots, and chicken nuggets, should consider a minor menu revamp.
The Williston Dining Hall, like any restaurant, has its top picks and popular items. The Dining Hall also tries to accommodate all consumers at Williston by offering a wide variety of food stations, by hosting yearly events like Asian Night Market to encourage food diversity, by providing non-peanut nut butters to respect common allergies, and more. Still, these efforts can be built upon by adding new food options and meals to the Dining Hall agenda, or simply serving the favorites more frequently, both of which would boost the Williston dining experience.
The Dining Hall has significantly changed since its establishment with the school in 1841. From dark wood to a white modern look, the Dining Hall has not only changed in physical appearance, but the cuisine has significantly evolved; from the Williston Northampton School for Girls, when potatoes and asparagus were the main course, to now, with Sage’s delicious, top-notch pesto paninis, Williston dining has certainly advanced, and there’s no reason for that to stop.
One of the most popular Dining Hall food stations is the salad bar. Margaret Edwards’ favorite meal is at the Dining Hall is a build-her-own salad, due to the new toppings that have been added into the salad bar.
“I like the Mexican salad toppings like the beans, the pico de gallo, the corn, and the guacamole,” said Margaret, a senior from Whateley, Mass., She enjoys making her own Mexican style salad and says “it’s really good.”
If she could add anything to the Dining Hall it would be “a snack station,” she said. She reasoned that a snack station would provide easier on the go eating for students who find themselves in a rush but still want to feel satiated.
Alyssa Matricciani, a senior boarder from Greenville, S.C., is fond of “the tortellini bar because there is a variety of toppings and options so it really caters to whatever [she’s] feeling that day for dinner.” A meal that reminds her of home is an Italian pasta dish called carbonara that she makes with her brother.
“It’s such a good comfort food because it’s yummy and filling and I think the Dining Hall could definitely make it,” she said. Carbonara, an Italian pasta dish, made with pancetta or bacon, egg, parmesan, black pepper, and spaghetti, is simple but delicious, and considering the pasta station is a go-to for many Williston students, why not add a creamy bacon pasta dish that the community is bound to love?
Contrasting the senior perspective, Lila Parsons, a freshman at Williston and former middle schooler, shares the pesto panini opinion of a majority of her fellow students.
“You’ll never not want them; they are filling but also flavorful,” she said. Lila, however, also wants to see a wider selection of healthier options in the Dining Hall and thought that “more veggies at the hot bar” would be beneficial for all students.
[Editor’s Note: Lila is the author’s sister.]
Maya Mallett, a junior boarder from Alexandria, Va., is gluten free, and is less pleased with the Dining Hall’s performance so far this school year. Maya’s favorite food, the gluten free mac and cheese, hasn’t made a comeback yet.
“The gluten free section of the dining hall was completely changed this year, leaving little to no options for gluten free people. There is no longer any gluten free pizza, pasta, or any variation similar to the regular food they are serving, making it very difficult to eat or have a variety with what your eating,” Maya said.
She added: “There is almost always chicken and rice and the salad bar, and the option to make a sandwich, but having the same three meals at the dining hall each day makes the food experience feel very repetitive and bland.” Maya emphasizes that she “hope[s] for better gluten free options coming soon!” A good start, she added, would be if “the dining hall made efforts to include gluten free eaters in specific Dining Hall traditions like pancake night.”
Chris Couchon, Williston’s Food Service Director, knows how to attack these new ideas and concerns better than anyone else. Chris explains that the Dining Hall staff “re-write[s] the menu for each trimester. The menus run for 4 weeks and then repeat. Sometimes we need to adjust before the next re-write if there is something that is not popular, or becomes difficult to source. But we have complete control at all times over the menu. We do have expectations that we have to make sure we are meeting, but this is very unpredictable area of service and we need to be able to pivot if prices get out of control, products become unavailable, or something is just not clicking in the dining hall.”
Additionally, Chris, after working at Williston for over 20 years, confidently touches upon the fact that “things are very different now than they were even 5 years ago. Much of the food here was packaged or out of a box convenience items. Now, we are roasting whole turkey breasts ourselves for the deli,” he said.
Couchon believes the Williston Dining Hall, as a space, has also become more welcoming.
“We open the doors at 7:15 a.m. and they are pretty much open right through dinner service for anyone that wants to come in and grab a bowl of cereal and just relax and I feel like way back when, it was more regimented with opening and closing and locking the doors,” he said. “We look at the Dining Hall as YOUR kitchen. This is your home.”
Couchon emphasized the Dining Hall does have new meals in store for this year and that they are specifically planning to incorporate more dishes from Korea and Central America.
With this, Couchon explained what adding a new meal entails.
“First off, we need to have a recipe for it. We have complete control over the menu at all times, but we are limited to what there are recipes for in the SAGE Dining database. There are 10,000+ recipes, so there is a lot to choose from, and if there is something we want to do that doesn’t have a recipe, our team here will write one and submit it to the dieticians. Once they clear it, it becomes available for ALL of the SAGE accounts in the company to use. Our crew here has many recipes that we’ve submitted.”
Couchon argues another challenge is figuring out what will be a hit with students.
“It’s also tricky figuring all of you out year to year,” he said. “One year a certain dish might be super popular while the next year it’s a complete and total dud. We can only rely on the classics so much and that’s where our imaginations and suggestions from the community really come into play.”
Couchon went on: “Any input from the community is beyond helpful. We want to make what you want to eat, and an open conversation is a great way to come up with ideas and share why something may or may not be possible. There is also an app that links directly to the menu. It’s called Touch of SAGE, and it is a direct link to the menu and any and all comments and reviews on there go directly to the management team on site here. It’s an incredibly useful and unfortunately underutilized tool. We are going to be running a pretty cool contest involving it in January, so keep your eyes peeled for more details!”
As we head into this school year, student engagement and more ideas regarding the Dining Hall’s current menu or what could be added to a future one, would definitely heighten the entire community’s eating experience. To reach out to Couchon, email [email protected]
“Food brings us all together in ways almost nothing else can,” Couchon said.