The Dining Hall Menu: A Perfect Recipe

By NICK BAKER, ELLINA KIM, LYDIA KUHNERT, and MEGHAN TATE ZEE

Every Exonian has experienced the universal joy of walking into the dining hall and being greeted by the delicious smell of a particularly good meal — fresh ravioli, Sunday morning omelets, or specialty pizza on a Thursday night.

The dining halls are a place for Exonians to rest and refuel amidst their busy schedules, and a good meal can make a student’s day. However, behind the scenes, the dining team is working tirelessly to invent new and exciting meals that not only satisfy but also exceed the expectations of the community. 

Melinda Leonard, PEA’s Director of Dining, shared, “Our menus for Residential, Grill, Catering, and the Bakery are developed by the Dining Leadership team. This includes me, the Executive Chef, Baker, and the Management team.”

Rebecca Bolton, Assistant Manager of Elm Street Dining Hall added, “The executive chef, production manager, and unit managers meet to go through the cycle of Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. Take care to notice if any items repeat, for example, if we are having broccoli at lunch, they will try to not have it at dinner.”

Many factors influence the crafting of the dining hall menus. Foodserver Manager Heidi Dumont shared, “The dining program has a set of menu standards for the residential program at both Elm and New Dining Hall. The standards are reviewed annually by the management team. The standards are a baseline for each dining hall to follow for consistency between the dining halls, such as what yogurts we will serve, the deli station, salad options, and menu selections for dietary needs.”

Dumont continued, “​​The menus created for the new dining hall were designed with the new equipment in mind such as the sauté wok cookery, and considering our production labor for menu selections.”

Bolton added, “The menu is created based on popularity, dietary requirements, menus of change, season, overall events, and any holidays or religious days that may happen during the term.”

Executive Chef Pierre Ginac, echoed, “We take into consideration the seasons, current food trends, requests, special events, religious events, and of course menu standards that we adhere to so that students meet their nutritional needs.”

Dining Services Manager Jeff Perotta detailed the timeline for the entire process. “We have a four-week cycle, every four weeks, it comes back to week one. And we usually change our menus three times a year, for each season.”

Leonard added, “Dining Services utilizes a software program that is recipe-driven and provides us historical information on what we have created and served over time which helps in defining favorite options that our community enjoys. We rely on feedback from our Dining team and the community at large and take that feedback into account as we receive it so we can make needed adjustments.”

There are a multitude of options for providing community input on Exeter dining. “We have the ‘Recipes From Home’ form, where you can submit a recipe that is cooked at home by your family, and we try to incorporate it into our menu and serve it on a Sunday at Elm Street,” described Perotta. 

“We also have a dining services feedback form. If you come across any meal that you enjoy or don’t enjoy here, you can go on there and let us know how you feel about it. Ironically, I don’t think a lot of students know about that,” he said.

Leonard added, “The principles of Menu of Change focus on preparing foods from scratch, not relying on processed foods, a long-term practice we follow.  Reduction of adding sodium, sugar, and fat in our recipe development is ongoing in providing healthier options when creating menus.”

In addition to ensuring nutritional options, Perotta explained how sustainability is maintained at the new dining hall: “We forecast that the cooks need to produce an amount of a given dish, and then at the end of the day we ask, ‘How much of it did we make?’ and ‘How much of it was actually eaten?’ Then, moving forward when we come back to the cycle, we make adjustments to cut overproduced food.”

The dining hall staff are constantly working to add flavor, culture, nutrition, and good taste to every meal, every day of the week. The thought put into designing the dining hall menus is often overlooked by Exonians, but such a crucial part of our lives at Exeter. The next time you’re at one of the dining halls, and you find your favorite food being served, make sure to stop and share your appreciation for the staff and all they do for you!