Lemongrass, a fast-casual concept, has been a highlight of the university’s $7 million foodservice renovation.
To the uninformed, the idea of a Thai-themed restaurant in America’s heartland might seem a bit avant-garde. But at 40,000-student Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Ind., Lemongrass makes perfect sense.
“Purdue has probably one of the largest populations of Asian students of any large public university in the country,” says Gary Goldberg, director of dining services in the Purdue Memorial Union, in explaining why 60-seat Lemongrass was one of the six restaurants added when the Union underwent a $7 million renovation last year. It replaced an Asian fast-food outlet in the Union’s old food court.
“At the time we conceived Lemon-grass, we felt Asian cuisine was underrepresented in a very busy restaurant market [in West Lafayette],” Goldberg adds, noting that the culinary landscape in town has changed dramatically in the last couple of years, with more Asian concepts opening. But that hasn’t diminished the success of Lemongrass, a fast-casual restaurant that is generating about $10,000 a week with an average check of $5.75.
Of course, Lemongrass is more a celebration of Asian cuisine than it is a Thai restaurant; Goldberg notes that Lemongrass’s tag line is “fresh flavors from the Far East.” There are two service lines in Lemongrass. One side is a noodle bowl concept, using Vietnamese pho broths as the base. Customers select their broth, choose from one of three types of noodles—soba, udon or cellophane—and add their choice of proteins and/or vegetables. Noodles with three vegetables cost $3.69 and noodles with one protein and two vegetables cost $4.79.
The other line serves a variety of stir-fry entrées, from Thai curry dishes to the ever-popular General Tso’s chicken. Goldberg explains that General Tso’s is a holdover from the old Asian concept. “It was so popular we kept it on the menu, which makes us a little more of a pan-Asian concept,” he says.
The Thai curry dishes include seafood medley panang, green curry beef and peppers and yellow chicken curry.
In addition to General Tso’s chicken, there is a ginger lime pork entrée on the menu. Entrée prices range from $4.65 for a small chicken curry to $7.95 for a large seafood medley.
Customers also can choose from a variety of appetizers and side dishes, such as crab rangoon, chicken satay potstickers and sesame peanut noodles. Appetizers and sides range in price from $1.49 for vegetable egg rolls to $3.75 for vegetable lo mein.
There is also one dessert item, wonton-wrapped fried bananas, on the menu for $2.25.
The menu masters behind Lemon-grass are Executive Chef Bruce Haumesser and Area Manager Petra Mart, who also is a trained chef. They interviewed Asian students, involved students in taste tests and traveled to Chicago to visit a number of Asian concepts such as Big Bowl to gauge what might work on the Purdue campus.
The team also worked extensively with Prakas Benyamroong, a Thai banker-turned-restaurateur who created the Los Angeles eatery Talesai.
“We actually initially formed a partnership with Prakas through NACUFS,” Goldberg explains. “We are big fans of him and his restaurant, and we talked about the possibility of opening a unit here. But in the end we decided we wanted to create our own concept. But I don’t mind giving Prakas credit, because he helped with menu development and gave us a lot of good ideas.”
Chef Haumesser says he felt from the beginning that an Asian concept was a necessity on campus.
“In our old set-up we had an Asian concept that was very busy,” he recalls. “Whatever we put out there sold well. When it came to a concept for the renovation, I love Thai food, and Gary was onboard with that.”
Haumesser adds that Lemongrass’s recipes are a combination of staff artistry and commercial partnerships.
“We have a large student workforce, and so we knew we couldn’t be consistent with the Thai flavor profile, so we sought out a curry company to provide us with the bases that we use,” he explains. “On the flip side, we became a little more creative with other ingredients for things like our pho soups. For example, we pound our own lemongrass in the central kitchen and ship it over. We buy our own galanga. We also buy our own kaffir lime leaves for the pho soups. Even though they are a few hundred dollars a pound, we think it’s well worth it. We’re committed to taking almost no shortcuts.”
Despite his belief that Thai and Vietnamese items would go well on the campus, Haumesser says the popularity is beyond his expectations.
“I’m surprised at how well customers have enjoyed the Thai flavor,” he notes. “The noodle bowl station is as busy as the entrée line. It has become a destination for many customers.”
He adds that the only real challenge has been the peanut scare.
“We had to pull peanuts out of the pad thai, and we also had a red curry sauce we make with peanut butter,” he explains. “So that presented a problem for us. But we have gone back to using peanuts.”