FEATURES
College Dining
10 1
While the theater of exhibition cooking takes center stage,
the food plays a starring role.
By Karen Weisberg
When high school seniors make the
rounds of colleges, the deal maker or
breaker is often the dining hall, invariably
a key component of the campus tour. The
greater the number of exhibition stations
that are up and running, the more lively the
interaction between servers and customers
and the more tantalizing aromas fill the air,
then the more positive the impression the
overall institution makes on these potential
students and their parents.
Naturally, once they’ve enrolled, dining
services must strive to keep these students
not only well-nourished by providing a wide
and ever-changing array of flavorful options,
but also engaged and excited. Producing
and directing multiple demonstration or
exhibition-cooking stations is a prime way
to garner rave reviews from today’s campus
dining audiences, who appreciate good
theater when they see it.
with exhibition cooking. That drives
participation and shapes your reputation.
Exhibition cooking is vastly more
important today than ever before.”
Authenticity counts
Because Gratz is well aware that today’s
students—many of them veterans of
Food Network-type programming and
family vacation cruises—are foodies
to a greater degree than previous
generations, he’s prepared. He offers the
now requisite organically driven, locally
sourced salad displays, and choices
for add-ons at every station. Traditional
menu items are available, but, as in
most higher education locations of this
size (Gratz reports more than 15,000
residential student transactions daily,
plus 6,000 in retail), students expect
more, and that typically means multiple
international options daily.
“At our Asian station, for example, Thai is
big, and we’ll also do Indian food,” Gratz
says. “Gary Arthur, our executive chef, is
an expert, since he worked in Asia for a
number of years. How you prepare the
dish is important, but authentic ingredients
are key. Students expect us to have a
knowledge of the ingredients.”
Ingredients await a demo by Mai
Pham, one of several chefs who visit
the University of Massachusetts,
Amherst, campus to demonstrate their
international specialties.
There’s more to it, to be sure. “A lot of the
success of exhibition cooking is not just
to watch the prep, but the inclusion of the
customization element,” notes Michael
Gratz, executive director of Stanford
Hospitality and Auxiliaries at Stanford
University, Palo Alto, Calif. “Especially in
this economy, people are looking for value,
and there’s incredible value perception
