NDB students are required to pay for the school’s food service as a part of their tuition. Due to this, it is imperative that quality and healthy options be provided each day, which is why the Epicurean Group provides delicious breakfast, lunch and snacks on-campus.
“It’s really convenient [to have Epicurean], especially because I think a lot of us don’t really have the time to eat in the morning, and so having a good full lunch is, like, nice, and it’s always good,” said senior Tessa Turiello.
Epicurean aims to serve meals that appeal to diverse student and staffulty diets and tastes as they make entrées from a wide variety of styles. Each week includes foods from different parts of the globe, typically cooking food from the American , Asian, Italian and Mexican cultures on different days.
“We just try to go off of what we’ve seen, that’s favorites; doing some different surveys, like what’s hot [and] what’s not; or just hearing the feedback; or just being on the line and being able to, you know, see what is more popular than others items,” said Epicurean Group General Manager Kimi Green.
Some community favorites include pasta with the op- tion of pesto, marinara or bolognese sauce; orange chicken with rice on the side; tacos filled with ground beef or a substitute of soy chorizo; and caesar salad wraps containing chicken , lettuce and croutons. These foods are all loved for their rich flavors, and since Epicurean makes them fairly regularly, they are commonly on the top of people’s minds when discussing popular dishes.
Additionally, holidays are complete with traditional and celebratory foods, such as, for Thanksgiving, turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes were served, while on Valentine’s Day, there were desserts covered in pink sprinkles. Epicurean also pays attention to religious and cultural times, as they do not make meals with meat on Ash Wednesday or Fridays during Lent.
“I think [it’s] really nice and very inclusive [when they serve meals according to the season], and I’m glad that Epicurean incorporates all cultures into their food,” stated sophomore Aria Smith.
These elements, although they appear small, greatly help students feel welcome into the community. If they are used to eating a certain way or want to maintain a diet, there are numerous ways for them to do so, while still eating food provided by the school.
Along with the main dishes, there are always salad and sandwich bars and a soup station in which Tigers can create their own meal in the way that they prefer it. This is also very beneficial for people with dietary restrictions, as they are able to avoid certain foods as necessary. Epicurean also accomplishes this by providing meatless substitutes as well as gluten-free food in certain lines.
The NDB community takes full advantage of the opportunity to eat Epicurean’s food, and many people buy breakfast and snacks before school and between blocks in order to tide them over until lunch. Additionally, people are able to take as much of the meals as they are able to eat.
“I just love when people are happy and when they come back for seconds or thirds, you know, or even in passing, people say, ‘Oh, I really love the lunch today. Thank you so much.’ … I think it’s fun when we’ve actually done events and people are still talking about the food,” said Green.
Epicurean’s food service is constant throughout the entire year and is present at many on-campus events. They help cater many events that NDB hosts, such as the annual Fund a Future scholarship benefit and the athletics banquet at the end of the final sports season. Their impact is felt in each of these instances as they make the nights much more enjoyable with the quality food options and are very accommodating as they provide substitutes for any dietary restrictions.
Along with the dinners they host for the greater community, the Epicurean Group’s touch on daily campus life is irreplaceable, as they are able to serve quality meals for a large group of people every day, always ensuring that their food will fuel students as they learn.
