Jazz Brunch: “Très Délicieux”

Exeter’s most popular dining event, Jazz Brunch, returned this year with great ambitions and eagerness to set a precedent. Last Sunday morning, Exonians awoke to a French Café styled dining hall known as “Café Gourmand.”Boasting a plethora of dining options including croissants, grilled scallops and French onion soup, Café Gourmand also featured some French entertainment – a mime. As the name might suggest, this year’s Jazz Brunch included performances from Exeter’s own Jazz Band as well as multiple vocal performances.Dining Services had been planning for this event for a long time. “The first meeting in our timeline to establish the theme took place in early December; however, we discussed ideas months before then,” Dining Services Manager Daniel Ferland said. “As the event neared, plans concerning the theme began to come into focus.”“After researching some fun ideas using classic sauces, crepes and fresh oysters, we decided that we should go with a French theme,” Ferland continued. “Then, as we started to think of ideas for props and staging each food station, the ‘Streets of Paris’ became our theme.”Creatively, the task proved to be a challenge. “Once menus and recipes were established, we then tried to envision the guest experience and some of the best ideas were born the day before or even while setting up,” Ferland said.More effort went into the process of preparing for the event than some may realize. “It takes an army to get it done and there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that you may not be aware of that it takes to make the event a success,” Dining Services Manager Heidi Brousseau said.Despite the unpredictability of the event, everything seemed to come together in the end. “We hoped our props and decor to capture the theme and the food to be authentic in flavors,” Ferland said. “However, until the day of the event, we didn’t quite know if we had achieved our goals.” Though demanding and difficult to pull off, the staff were triumphant with the results.Students and faculty flooded into Elm Street Dining Hall on Sunday morning to what was later proven to be a very successful event. Lower Jess Hebl particularly enjoyed the event. “I think they managed to put the place together well. The food was an excellent change of pace from the regular meals and a fantastic way to launch into Spring,” she said.Senior Shelby Knauss agreed, praising the special brunch. “I just got back from Germany so having D-Hall put all this cool food together was cool,” she said.Ferland ended the day in high hopes. “I did hear a lot of feedback about this year’s Jazz Brunch being the best ever, I just hope that we can keep coming up with new and fun ideas for the future,” he said.Click For Gallery!