Good college food? It sounds like an oxymoron to the many people who remember the Spanish-rice menus of their college experiences and who needed care-packages from home to survive a semester. However, students at SUNY Brockport find little reason to complain. Brockway Dining Hall, managed by Mark Gardner, looks like an upscale restaurant. The dining hall features daily display cooking - food such as stir-fry cooked for individuals prepared right before their eyes. Each day at lunch there are two soups of the day. Specials to be served at each meal are printed in The Stylus, the campus paper. Menus include four-cheese potatoes, fish 'n chips, spring vegetable wraps, char grilled burgers, pasta bar, lasagna, and broiled Mediterranean vegetables with fresh mozzarella. Also routinely offered are vegetarian dishes, hamburgers, hot dogs, and grilled chicken breasts and a salad bar. Even breakfast is not just breakfast. Students can make their own Belgian waffles by putting dough into the two machines in the dining hall. Holiday specials such as red, white and blue pancakes for President's Day - pancakes served with cherry, blueberry and whipped cream toppings - surprise eaters. Christa Filipowicz, marketing director of Brockport Auxiliary Services Corporation (BASC), said, "Mark is very hands on. He tries new recipes all the time and does something special every few days." He has "monotony breaks" each week with items such as fancy desserts or an evening of chocolate fantasy. In a few weeks, there will be a luau with Hawaiian food and decorations. Filipowicz said, "BASC won second place in the National Association of College and University Food Services' (NACUFS) prestigious Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards. The award recognizes Brockway Dining Hall's "Best Standard Menu" which features a unique display cooking station catering specifically to diverse ethnic and vegetarian cuisines. Over 130 schools from across the nation, Canada and Puerto Rico participated in the competition that spanned several categories. The standard menu category evaluates entries based on variety, presentation and nutritional soundness." "Brockport is the number one rated dining service in the SUNY system as reported by the SUNY Student Opinion Survey," Filipowicz said. There are 64 colleges and universities in the SUNY system. BASC is subcontracted by the state and currently manages dining services, catering, the campus bookstore, parking services, vending and laundry services. Within the dining services there are nine separate retail operations - Brockway and Harrison dining halls, catering, Jitterbugs Café, Aerie Café, Tuttle Health Court, Hartwell Café, TRAX (pizza and subs) and Union Square Food Court. Within the Union Square Food Court there are several shoppes - KFC Express, Mexican Connection, Lindee's sandwiches, wraps and subs, Union Grille, Carmen's Pizza/Pasta, and Passions Bakery. Harrison and Brockway dining halls differ mainly in size. Harrison has about 400 seats and Brockway has 180. Brockway, therefore, is able to add more specialty items and display cooking, because of a better layout for this type of menu. Meghan Williams of Utica said, "After transferring to Brockport, I was pleasantly surprised as to how good the food tasted, especially at TRAX." Freshman Erica Glasgow of Rochester said, "The food at Brockport is overall really good. My favorite place to eat is the Union. There is a great variety of food there." Connie Graves, who works in the Office of Enrollment Management at Brockport, brought her two daughters, who attend other colleges, to Brockway Dining Hall for lunch this fall. She wrote in an email to Filipowicz: "Tera, my vegetarian girl, was amazed at the choices she had to pick from; very jealous that she had to put up with Binghamton food. Amanda, the fast-food expert, commented that the steak fajita tasted 'like Appleby's.' I checked with her, and yes, that is a good thing. Also, they both were very happy to have the vegetables to choose from. Thought you'd like to know their reactions (not that you should be surprised. You know the food here is the best)." |
