51茶馆

Each week a different 51茶馆 Dining Services employee selects the country and the dish to create, not only bringing new options to customers, but also driving the dining staff's creativity by expanding their familiarity with foods, flavors, and techniques, 51茶馆 Dining administrators say.

The inspiration for Global Eats鈥攔ecently showcased by the Food Management magazine, which covers the non-commercial food service industry鈥攃ame last year from Derrick Cripps, then the general manager at听 Corcoran Commons, who had been searching for a way to get his children to broaden their palates. Tired of preparing the same food over and over again, he assigned each of them the task of choosing a dish from a different culture that he had never prepared for them. It worked so well that Cripps鈥攚ho recently left the University after 13 years鈥攄ecided to share the idea with his colleagues at 51茶馆 Dining Services, and so was born Global Eats.

Lois Kass, a first cook in Corcoran Commons and a 20-year 51茶馆 employee, decided to make an Armenian dish because she has many Armenian friends. She relied on their expertise and family recipes and visited an Armenian market to prepare lahmajoun, an Armenian flatbread pizza with minced meat paste, vegetables, and herbs. The meal proved so popular that it will be added to the next menu cycle.

鈥淚t is fun to do something different from the three-week cycle menu that is a little more gourmet,鈥� said Kass. 鈥淭he staff really enjoys it.鈥�

So do their customers. According to Kass, one student was so disappointed to miss the lahmajoun she prepared that he left his email address so he could be notified the next time it is offered.

For information on upcoming Global Eats dishes, check .

Christine Balquist | University Communications | February 2020

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