Takeout, chef stations spice up dining halls

Photo: Greg Grieco Takeout fare is an option for time-pressed students at University Park. For more photos, click on photo above.

University Park, Pa. -- When time-pressed students hit the dining halls this fall at Penn State, they won't have to gulp and go. They can get a takeout meal by picking up a set of Styrofoam containers from the cashier, selecting what they want from the menu and rocketing off to eat their meal elsewhere. The takeout option will be available at four of University Park's seven dining halls.

The program, the brainchild of Housing and Food Services, was in test mode last year at McElwain Hall's dining unit, where it was an immediate hit, according to Lisa Wandel, director of residential dining. About 200 students or 40 percent of the diners are now using it, she said. "Today's students aren't always interested in sit-down eating with others," she said. "They want to grab their food, take it back to their room and sit in front of their computer."

Indeed. Jo Ann Marker, manager of dining commons operations at McElwain Dining Hall where the program was tested, said she watched students come, get takeout and scurry off, some to stow their meal in their fridges for later consumption, some to other commons to hang out with friends. "They loved it," she said. "It gives them the option to have a well-balanced hot meal whenever they choose to have it."

Takeout meals are just one indication that this is not your father's dining hall. The generation that remembers powdered eggs, mystery meatloaf and gray gravy should consider these facts about the seven dining commons on the University Park campus:

-- Food services are open between 7 a.m. and 1 a.m. during the week and 9 a.m to 1 a.m. on weekends. The eateries are open late because today's students have much busier schedules and it is not uncommon to see a herd of hungry folks heading off to eat at midnight.

-- The dining halls feature made-to-order stations where students can chow down on sushi, pizza, subs, Mongolian grill, pancakes, waffles and omelets.

-- Upscale dinner menus show up featuring steak weekly and seafood monthly.

-- Tuesday night is fresh fish night at the commons. Consider some of these menu items: tilapia with orange celery salsa, seared mako shark with scallions, sauteed monkfish and Cajun catfish.

-- The Penn State bakery provides fresh artisan breads on weekdays. Here are some of the choices: herb foccaccia, rosemary garlic bread, oat and flax seed bread, sun-dried tomato rolls, ciabattas and braided challahs.

-- The salad bars go beyond the green standards to include such trendy fare as edamame, roasted soy nuts, cashews, walnuts, almonds, hummus, trail mix and tomato baked tofu.

Penn State works hard to remain on the cutting edge in food service, according to Wandel. "We have to be because it's what the students are used to," she said. "We're feeding the generation that grew up in restaurants."

As a matter of fact, Penn State brings the restaurants to the students with its use of cooking demonstrations in the dining commons. On a recent afternoon, Masaya Matsui, exhibition cook in the Department of Food Services, had his own cooking station set up at Pollock Commons, where he was preparing fresh crab and fennel dumplings in a mango, pineapple and lime sauce. Matsui, garbed in his white chef's hat and apron, showed a deft hand flipping the dumplings, that soon had a line of students waiting trays in hand for their share of the tasty hot treats. He expected to go through 400 dumplings before the lunch shift was over.

Katie Castellano of the Pittsburgh area cautiously bit into one of the dumplings. "It's really great," she said. "I've never had crab before." The freshman summer school student was seated with her friends, chowing down on fresh salads. "We love the chef guy," she said.

That's not all. Starting this fall all Housing and Food Services dining commons will be changing to zero trans fat recipes and products where possible. Cooking oils were the first to be replaced, followed closely by what is used in bakery products, such as cookies, pies and breads. The dining commons also accommodates special requests for students with allergies and students with special dietary needs due to religious restrictions. The sustainable foods movement is gaining a little momentum on campus as the department looks for a way to include local foods on campus. In addition to milk from Penn State dairy cattle, Berkey Creamery ice cream and mushrooms from the University's research unit, local peaches, tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, peaches, corn and apples find their way onto the students' plates.

The dining commons also compost all their food scraps and napkins. That compost, along with scraps from all over University Park, provides a soil amendment for the flower beds on campus, Wandel said. She exhibited an interest in increasing food services' environmentally friendly profile. Those Styrofoam takeout containers that students like so much? "We're not thrilled with the Styrofoam," she said. "We're looking for an alternative environmentally friendly container."