To accommodate its growing number of students, the University of Connecticut decided to revamp its Putnam Dining Hall—an endeavor that cost $23 million, according to the Storrs, Conn., university.
Now spanning two floors, the renovated eatery, which opened in August, seats 700 and provides continuous service from 7 a.m. until after dinner. Here’s a look at some of its new features.
Deviating from its original cafeteria style, the renovated dining hall features several food stations spanning across two floors. Catering to a wide range of dietary needs, the stations feature vegan, gluten-free and vegetarian options, as well as items around such themes as international street food and comfort food. The upper level also features a build-your-own juice bar, where students can fill up a bowl with frozen produce that a staff member will blend into a smoothie.
To make sourcing local herbs easier during the winter, the university partnered with a nearby greenhouse to provide plants for the dining hall’s two living plant walls. The walls feature a variety of 120 herbs—including basil, thyme and parsley—that chefs can use in meals. Every plant is self-sustaining, outfitted with a hose that runs on a timer to provide the right amount of water and artificial sunlight. The only action foodservice staff need to take is clipping the plants properly so they continue to grow, says Dennis Pierce, executive director of dining services.
Encouraging students to spend time in the hall, Putnam features a wide range of seating options, such as bar seating and longer lounge-style tables on the first floor. Students and faculty are also able to reserve Putnam’s private dining room for classes and events. Officials hope that the private space, which seats around 65, will be used for chef demonstrations or by professors who wish to have dinner during class. The dining room is set up with AV cameras so students can watch cooking or teaching demos on the room’s two overhead screens.
When not in use, the dining room is open to serve as additional seating for students.
Tour Old Dominion University’s new tech-savvy dining hall
Sustainable waste
In order to bring dirty dishes from the lower level to the dish room upstairs, the university created a Ferris wheel-style dish system. Students on the lower levels place used dishes on rotating trays, which then travel to the dish room. From there, foodservice workers scrape any extra food into a trough and grind it up. The food is then converted into grey water so it can be sustainably disposed.
The foodservice team makes nutrition an integral part of students' school day through themed literary lunches, math problems on cookie packaging and more.
Sodexo Live! puts the pedal to the medal with new menu items and concepts calibrated just for racing fans as the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix roars into the Miami International Autodrome in May.