Dining Staff and Exonians Share Insights on Menus

By AARYAN AGARWAL, ADRIAN CHAN, ERIN HAN, and ELLEN JIN

When Exonians file out of their last morning classes, a familiar question sounds across campus: “What’s at Elm?” The answer to this question has the power to either bring much joy or cast a shadow of disappointment. For many years, general curiosity about the trends and variability in the dining hall’s menu selections has persisted. 

Seeking to clarify some of these longstanding speculations, The Exonian spoke with dining services to learn about the preliminary steps that occur before we scoop the dining hall’s options onto our plates.

Director of Dining Services Melinda Leonard laid out the usual process that factors into crafting a menu. “Our catering menus are reviewed and updated annually by the Catering Manager and Executive Chef.  The goal is to provide a balance of choices that include proteins, starches, and vegetables to compose entree options. In addition, separate menus are designed to include appetizers, beverages, and desserts. Menu options fall under categories of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and receptions.”

Leonard continued, “Factors that influence choices vary—the common denominators fall on the popularity of items, seasonality of products throughout the year, managing costs of items that stay within established margins to meet food costs for the Catering operation.”

Upper Tiffany Sun commented on the dining options. “I feel like the everyday dining options are okay, but I think sometimes there aren’t as many options for protein in the hot line and it would be nice to see some more variety. Specifically, I like the chicken parm, and garlic knots nights,” she said.

Leonard also mentioned the self-operation of dining services: “Dining Services is self-operated — we manage all aspects of the catering operation. Catering is managed directly by Mrs. Jerge, the Catering Manager, and Annie Barrows, our Catering Supervisor.”

“We also have a small pool of caterers that work part-time that are driven by the needs of the business,” she added. “Our entire Dining Services team, including folks from Residential, the Grill, and Bakery operations also support catering services in driving, delivery, preparation of foods, and the service of catering events.”

During special events such as family weekend and other occasions, students tend to see noticeable changes in variety as well as quality of dining hall meals. This is due to changes in the catering process during these events. Leonard shared, “Our Catering operation provides services campus-wide like working directly with departments in event planning and placing orders from our brochure.” 

“Some examples that Catering oversees are the many reunion events held in May, Exeter Leadership events in September, Trustee and Speaker events, ongoing receptions and events that support College Counseling, Student Activities, OMA, Institutional Advancement, Facilities Management, Principal’s office to name just a few,” she continued. 

Students at Exeter have observed a noticeable difference in the food served on regular days versus special events, and expressed a wish for every meal to be at the standard of special events, like Family Weekend. Prep Levi Stoll drew a stark contrast between regular and catered meals, saying, “I mean, that’s not really a question. There is a hundred percent difference.” 

Similarly, prep James Travis believed that,“they want to impress the parents, so they do a lot better.” 

An anonymous Exonian vividly described the heightened dining experience during Family Weekend: “ I love Elm, but serving swordfish, oh my goodness. There was also perfectly cooked turkey. It had everything, and the incredible chocolate cake—I knew that that was a bit off the regular.” 

Prep Eric Jin noticed the catering service’s emphasis on food quality. “Yes, I think there definitely is [a difference] because they pay more attention to how people are receiving the food. For example, during Family Weekend, they improve the food quality. I think because they wanted to assure the parents that we were being fed well.” 

Sun agreed that “for larger scale events I do feel like there is a difference in the food, for example the food seems better prepared and there are usually more dessert options during events like Family Weekend. I also really enjoyed the Lunar New Year dining hall menu last year and the year before.”

Another anonymous Exonian expressed appreciation for these special meals, adding, “I think it’s great food and it really showcases the skill and dedication of our dining faculty. I think that Exeter likes to put their best foot forward in every aspect of an event, including smaller details like catering.” The consensus was, while Elm food is good, catering services brought meals to the next level.

A lot of effort and preparation goes into making our dining experiences possible. From planning menus, to cooking, to getting the food served to the students, the dining hall staff work hard every day to provide this service. This process is taken to a larger scale for the bigger catering events on campus that feed more people. Overall, students generally appreciate the food from these caterers as a nice change of pace, with different dining options as a treat to have every once in a while.