Little Known Secrets of Wheaton Dining

I recently found out about the habanero sauce that one of the cooks at Emerson Café has made-up himself in the kitchen. It's a little-known secret that his amazing addition to sandwiches, so please don't spread the word too far (as I publically blog about my new finding).
It seems that each year I'm on campus, I find a new way to hack Wheaton's not-so-amazing meals with combining multiple ingredients from the far corners of Chase or Emerson, to create an ultimate dish that my friends gawk over as they nibble their pizza or boring steamed vegetables. With the new menu for the dining areas, its taken quite a bit of time to feel as if I need to branch out even more and find the next unique addition to my personal menu. As the semester was coming closer to ending, however, I started getting a little antsy about the lack of creativity in my daily meals. Being the holiday mentality, I am thankful for this habanero discovery. The little kick that it added to my sandwich was exactly what I needed during the last day on campus before Thanksgiving break. Everyone had left, but at least I had my habanero sauced food.

How to Get the Most Bang for your Lyons Buck 

At Wheaton College, there are several different meal plans available to the student body. The first plan is the Carte Blanche plan that first years are automatically put on. In this meal plan, you have unlimited meal swipes to Chase Dining Hall, located on lower campus near most of the first year dorms, as well as $50 Lyons Bucks. The remaining meal plans are for sophomores and up. They can choose from the Carte Blanche meal plan or the other two. The middle meal plan is 225 meal swipes, with $350 Lyons Bucks and the last plan consists of 150 meal swipes, with $525 Lyons Bucks. Typically, the higher up you are in class year, you will pick a meal plan with a lower number of meal swipes and a higher number of Lyons Bucks. But what are Lyons Bucks you ask?

Lyons Bucks are like free spending dollars you can use at any of the cafes on campus - Balfour Hood Cafe, Davis-Spencer Cafe, and the most popular one of all, Emerson dining. Emerson dining has a Starbucks as well as made-to-order sandwiches and salads. But it can be challenging to budget ourself for the whole semester on just a few hundred dollars. Here are some tips to help you through the semester.

1. Check your balance often

The food at the cafes can be quite expensive at times, so its important you are aware of how much money you have so you're not left blind sided come week 7.

2. Don't mind leftovers

The salads and sandwiches from Emerson are HUGE! Don't force yourself to eat it all! Instead, eat half and save the rest for a late night sack or tomorrow's lunch!

3. I know stealing is bad, but sometimes it's okay 

At Chase, you're allowed to take food out of the dining hall. When you go in for meals, bring a container or two and make yourself a salad or grab an extra sandwich to go. This way, you get essentially two meals for one swipe and you can save your Lyons Bucks for later!

4. Make your own food! 

College is expensive. But sometimes, it's nice to have something a little extra special. Olivia '18, says she makes her own coffee with her Keurig in order to save some Lyons Bucks for other meals.  

The Unlimited Plan vs The 3rd Meal Plan

Chase is probably the most visited dining hall on campus by most students, thus choosing an appropriate meal plan is essential to many students. Freshmen don't have an option of choosing between meal plans, since they're automatically enrolled into the Unlimited Plan. What does somebody's choice of meal plan say about them? I am a senior with the 3rd Meal Plan, since although I visit Chase 2-3 times per day, I am in Davis Spencer Cafe a lot due to my course schedule, so sometimes I buy food on the go in the Cafe.

I interviewed a sophomore & junior asking them about their meal plan choices. The sophomore informed me that he chose the Unlimited meal plan, since he lives in lower campus, thus Chase is really accessible for him. He mentioned that he goes to chase about 3-5 times per day, so he is often in Chase so the unlimited meal plan suits him. He doesn't usually buy from the cafes on campus, so he prefers the unlimited meal plan. 

The junior that I interviewed mentioned that he also has the Unlimited meal plan, since he also lives on lower campus & doesn't spend much time on upper campus, where Emerson is located & Davis Spencer Cafe. He doesn't spend much money there since he's usually in lower campus & his upper class-men friends usually come down from upper to lower campus to eat in Chase. 

During these interviews, I learned how much location matters for most students when deciding on what meal plan to choose. As well, many mentioned that Emerson's lighting was a determining factor for them since it makes it feel like a cafe rather than a dining hall. Most students want comfort & accessible food locations for themselves so they decide to choose a meal plan that fits their location.  

Chasing Changes 

Last year, it was a challenge to eat at Chase. I found myself unhappy with much of my food options as they were bland and often overcooked, and there was not that much variety in the food they were serving. However, this past semester has been much, much better and I have noticed several positive changes Chase has been able to make. In general, there are more options day to day, as the pizza and make-your-own pasta bar are now staple sections. But there have been some really positive changes I want to take the time to highlight.

Possibly the best change Chase has made this semester is the addition of the "Allergies Station." This station is gluten free, dairy free, nut free, and shellfish free all the time. This station had been very successful throughout the semester, and is extremely important to those with food allergies. Within the station, there is always a source of protein - fish or chicken usually -, a source of grain and vegetables. Several students last year consistently spoke about the lack of gluten free options at Chase, and said they were forced to live off of simply rice or buy their own food, which is very expensive on top of what they already pay for to be on the meal plan. Now, they know there will always be an option in addition to rice at Chase for them to eat and they no longer have to spend money out of pocket.

Chase is also now Leed Certified Silver, which means our building gets a silver metal for being environmentally conscious. As we all know, our food scraps go towards feeding the pigs. Simply throwing away food contributes a massive amount of waste that goes straight into landfills, creating extreme strain on our environment. Buy feeding our food to the pigs, the pig farmers no longer have to buy feed from corporations that import food from over seas, eliminating fossil fuel waste, and Wheaton doesn't have to throw away any food, eliminating our food waste.

Last but certainly not least, is they new person in charge of Dining Service. The new person in charge of dining services is very receptive to changes students want to make and listens to what the students have to say in regards to our dining options. This semester alone, there have been several dining experience surveys because they want to hear our feedback, and I have meet with him personally to express my own concerns. I encourage all to reach out to the new head of Dining Services; Wheaton is a collaborative community and we should take every opportunity we can to make this place comfortable for all.

Roaring Stomach

Roaring Stomach

Like most vegetarian students at Wheaton College, I find myself frustrated and at times quite literally starving due to the lack of vegetarian food options available here on campus. I find myself getting extremely irritated and annoyed at the fact that my dietary concerns and needs are not prioritized (because according to an Emerson staff member who shall not be named, my given food lifestyle is “just now popular.” Now, instead of taking offense to her comment and telling them off like I’m pretty sure most would do in my situation, instead opted for a more peaceful option and simply walked away amazed at their ignorance. According to this obviously special staff member I was a vegetarian not because I had been most of my life but because it was a popular trend amongst peers within my generation. Their statement though ignorant struck a chord in me because I was able to conclude that her belief must have been a belief shared by most of the staff employed at our dining halls, which was why Wheaton offered such a crappy vegetarian menu. My encounter with this particular Emerson staff member has inspired me to protest the vegetarian menu at Wheaton College because it’s limited due to obvious restrictions in place because of ignorance. Because the majority favors meaty foods the minority is marginalized and discriminated against and that’s just simply unfair. How can I blog about food and give a proper critic of food when the food that I am meant to scrutinize is nonexistent?

The Salad Pizza

Image from http://piezonis.com

            Health is a very funny thing. Some days, one glass of wine is considered healthy, others three glasses of wine a day will give you heart healthy benefits, and some day; two glasses of wine a day will supposedly give you cancer. We as a society regard health as things that are green, natural, or taste like nothing. Often due to gas ripening processes, food products might be green, kind of natural, and taste like nothing all at the same time. We tend to rely quite heavily on science, funded by who knows, telling us such and such about things and stuff. When science seems too contradictive, we just add lettuce and call it a day. I work at a local pizza place in Easton, not ten minutes from Wheaton. This will be my third year working there, and tonight, I will probably make an average of seven “Mixed Greens Pizza’s”.  This is one of our specialties that are beloved by middle class white women who come in groups, and strictly dads in Patagonia jackets after a holiday or Bruins/Patriots games.            

The pizza itself is comprised of, pizza crust, parmesan peppercorn dressing, ‘mixed greens lettuce’, tomatoes, black olives, red onions, grilled chicken, feta cheese, and Greek dressing. It is literally a salad on a pizza, and Easton folks love it. As I have found in my experience, the sales of this pizza increase after certain holidays such as Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving, and bigger local sports games. I understand this to be the attempt at leveling out an unhealthy diet, with a perceived healthy one.            

The correlation between unhealthy holiday and game foods, and the sales of the Mixed Greens Pizza, has not been recorded. However, I have come to the conclusion that people regard it as the compromised healthier option due to their attitude around it, and the mumbling people use when choosing it. Little known fact, many people talk to themselves before ordering food. Very often, I hear a long list of options they are considering before actually placing their order. And even more often, people choose this pizza after rattling off a list of “… loaded waffle fries, no, okay I don’t want a steak and cheese… maybe a pizza…. Okay, can I just have the salad pizza”. Another reason for the perceived health benefits of this pizza is the fact that people call it ‘the salad pizza’ or sometimes ‘the field of greens pizza’. These invented names, although quite similar to the actual name of the pizza, allude to the understanding that it is comprised of healthy products. However, the two dressings alone, including the Italian dressing that the chicken is cooked with, probably ranges to about 210-260 calories.  And according to their website, a small, 10-inch Mixed Greens Pizza is 1561 calories. Where as a small, 10-inch regular cheese pizza is 974 calories. Calories do not necessarily regard health, and the comprised ingredients within a food product hold more weight than the accumulation of calorie numbers. The Mixed Green pizza merely represents the confusion and solution we as consumers face when attempting to regulate diets, and consume perceived ‘healthy food’.

Fancy Indian Dinners in Emerson

Since Scott O’ Rourke started at Wheaton, he’s been making strides to add some flair to our day to day lives in Dining Services. While I admit that I’m not lucky in finding meals that satisfy my hunger due to being a picky eater and feeling that the options don’t fit my tastes all the time, this is not what this blog is about. It’s about the introduction of themed dinners through Dining Services, and how this dinner was a great way to change up the food we eat day to day with a special meal. There were two "fancy dinners" this semester, this first a French dinner and the second, an Indian dinner. Both dinners took place in Emerson Dining Hall in the Faculty Dining Room. Scott O'Rourke's plan is to have two per semester where students eat three course meals through reserving their spot with their Wheaton ID and paying a meal swipe and $5 in Lyons Bucks.

 

The Indian Dinner was something I looked forward to after attending the Fancy French Dinner which was also delicious and felt like I was in a restaurant. Students are escorted to seats after paying for their meal. Once seated, I looked at the menu on the table which had three choices of appetizers (Menu is above). I chose the Crispy Aloo Tikki (they spelled it tikka) with Coriander Mint Chutney which was essentially a thick potato and herb cutlet. It was good and filling. I moved onto the main course and chose Chicken Tikka Masala (pictured below) which was bigger than I expected and very filling and tasty. It reminded me of the Tikka Masala I make at home for my mother. The smells of this dinner made me feel comforted and at home because of the spices used and aroma of the food. I finished dinner with the Mint Lasse which is a cooling yogurt drink and it was really good that I had to take it take-away or to-go. I'd say that any student looking to do something different but not wanting to leave campus should try the Fancy Dinner at least once in their time at Wheaton. I think it's worth the swipe and Lyons bucks and is quite comforting just make sure to get there right at 5:30pm to relax and really enjoy your meal.

 

Multi-Cultural Dinner Events at Wheaton

Dining at Wheaton has seemed livelier this year than in the past. The multitude of events that have debuted this semester have included special multi-cultural dinner nights in the Emerson back dining area. A sign-up sheet at the entrance to Chase and limited people who can get in allows for a feeling of exclusivity to those who do make it.

These special dinner events are usually on Wednesday or Thursday nights and cost a meal swipe and $5 Lyons bucks to get in, which is worth it given what is served. Tables are all arranged and decorated when you get there, and is themed in some way. There was one night where it was themed for Paris, France, and another night it was for India.

At the end of the first dinner event, for France, the chefs and dining management stated that this was a new event series they hoped to implement permanently, depending on students’ response. The goal is to have them once a month, or two to three times per semester. The menu is to consist of food from major countries around the world, I would guess in an effort to introduce a wider array of food to students who wouldn’t normally be exposed to. In any event, this fancy multicultural dinner series was a well thought out idea from the start, with great food and atmosphere all around.

There’re multiple courses, and options for each one, not to mention the hor d'oeuvres already on the table. They probably understand that students’ schedules on week nights can be pretty tight, so the food doesn’t take long to arrive, so if need be someone could be done with everything between 1-2 hours. The food’s quality has been great both times, and I’m looking forward to more events of these in the future that signify an ever-improving dining services for Wheaton students.

ARAMARK: SHOULD WE NOT??

As many of y'all know Wheaton College's food comes form the company Aramark.  In the beginning of this year we had to re-sign our contract with the said company. This was also the time, we had different kinds of food everyday including and not limited to: Lobster, Korean food, Taco Tuesday etc.

Although many of us have enjoyed the fancy food we experienced the first two weeks of school, the food quality soon went back to the basics.  I don't know if many people know this, but Aramark is also the same company that feeds prison systems in the United States. My friends and I have made multiple jokes here and there about eating prison food however this post is not about the jokes.