Brown Dining Services

Supper Club is back! 

If you were in the Ratty this past Tuesday night, maybe you noticed a large group passing around eggplant parm and gnocchi by candlelight (using battery operated flames of course). That can only mean one thing...Supper Club is back!

Supper Club is a pop-up dinner that offers an aesthetic dining experience right in the Ratty and an opportunity for staff to interact directly with students. Regularly hosted by myself, Administrative Dietitian and Assitant Chef Aaron, with help from Assistant Manager for the Ratty, Sean, who works his magic on the tablescape and place settings, we had a few special guests participate with us. Joining our student guests were Barbara Chernow, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration, Eric Estes, Vice President for Campus Life and Student Affairs and Tara Norcross, one of Brown Dining’s newest team members, who works for Bon Appetit, our new partnering organization. Together, our goal was to discuss and listen to feedback, directly from students.

The discussion for this Club centered around our sourcing of ingredients, which is a topic that comes up a lot. As we dined family-style on the same dinner menu that was offered in the Ratty that night, we were able to show students how while the aesthetic of eating at a fancy table may be something out of the ordinary in the dining hall, the tasty menu with local ingredients was not.

That night's menu featured:

• Eggplant Parmesan: handed breaded eggplant from Mello’s Farm Stand (Little Compton, RI)
• Gnocchi: Venda Ravioli (locally crafted in Providence, RI)
• Meatloaf with mushroom sauce: Niman Ranch beef (livestock raised traditionally, humanely and sustainably) processed in our in-house Brown Butchershop
• Panettone Bread Pudding: baked fresh in the Brown Bakeshop

These local vendors are ones we purchase from daily. Check out our new chalkboard upstairs that's regularly updated with information about our local partners.

Our discussion next led to the servery changes that occurred before the start of the semester. So far the feedback has been largely positive, with one student guest describing the look as "hipster." We hope that's an improvement! We were glad to learn of one misstep with the fruit – it seems we've unintentionally hidden the fruit on you! Not to worry, a new display is on its way, and fruit will be back where you can find it. In the meantime, follow the scent of brownies, it’s with the desserts. And because we now know how important it's to students, we got to work improving options on our rotating bars that appear on Roots & Shoots. Fresh fruit and berries on the morning yogurt bar are here to stay – that we heard loud and clear.

As said, we want to know what YOU think and invite students to join us for a meal while dining and discussing all things food! If you would like to join us, keep your eyes peeled, we’ll be back in October, with pumpkins, lots of pumpkins.

– Jessie Curran, Administrative Dietitian for Brown Dining Services