| ‘Tuesday Tastings’ gives students fresh options |
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| Written by Kristen Bahler, Daily Vidette Senior Staff |
| Tuesday, 15 September 2009 03:33 |
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There is such thing as a free lunch, thanks to Campus Dining Services. The widely popular “Tuesday Tasting” series is back, and those who eat in the dining centers once again have the opportunity to sample new dishes and offer Executive Chef Timothy Gump feedback on his recipes. “The Tuesday Tastings idea is actually a collaboration with Susan Jones and Arlene Hosea (the director and associate director of campus dining services, respectively),” Gump said. “We wanted to hear the opinions and thoughts of our guests, and the best way to do that is to be in front of them.” Gump added that further inspiration sprouted from a desire to provide students with an abundance of meal options. “We don’t want to get people caught in the routine,” he said. “Deli sandwiches are wonderful, but when you eat them seven days a week, they get kind of monotonous and mundane.” According to Tracy Widergren, the marketing coordinator of Campus Dining Services, students have responded extremely well to the once-a-week handout since the inception of the series last semester. “We are constantly hearing from students, ‘I like this, can you serve this more often?’ … We encourage students to tell us what they want,” she said. Because Gump travels to a different dining center each week, students who stick to the same cafeteria still have the opportunity to participate. “We’ve gone through three full rotations,” Wildergren said. “Chef Gump goes to all the dining centers, three weeks in a row, with the same dish. We take a week off, and then start over again. This coming Tuesday is the final rotation for [the current dish].” Gump, who has been a certified chef since 1977, seems to enjoy presenting the Tuesday Tastings as much as students enjoy devouring it. “For the last year we have been doing this, and it has gone over great,” he said. “Members of the student body love seeing it and seem to look forward to it. With a limited space and limited equipment, we’ve been able to do some good Tuesday Tastings samplings. After a while the students will get to know me and say, ‘Tim, this is good!’ or ‘This is good, but needs this.’ With the great mix of guests we have, we have to figure out how we can capture the most tastes.” Joseph Jones, sophomore theatre design production and business major who lives in Hamilton Hall, said he is thus far very impressed with the program. “The dish I tasted … food quality wise, was excellent,” he said. “The way it was displayed, and the overall appearance was very appetizing. Chef Tim Gump did an excellent job of preparing it for a situation that it wouldn’t be prepared for 100 students.” Jones added that part of the appeal of the food is that each student who tries the dish has the opportunity to impact future menus. “Even if you don’t like it, it’s good to try something new,” he said. “I enjoy having a say. A lot of students don’t have time or money to go out for food, so [this makes them] feel like dining services are listening to their opinions. It’s good to keep giving dining services feedback as they try to develop new menu items.” The next tasting will be in the Linkins Dining Center today, Tuesday, September 15 from 11 am to 12:30 p.m. The featured dish will be chicken and mushroom filled crepes. “In the spring [when the series began], students started expecting it, and started thinking, “Oh it’s Tuesday, Chef Gump is here today,” said Widergren. “It’s a pretty neat thing.” |
