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A buffet of options coming for House Dining

Exciting array of new food stations, new cuisines — and old favorites — coming to the dining halls.
The revitalized House Dining system will have an array of new food stations throughout the five dining halls, including an Indian food station in The Howard Dining room at Maseeh Hall.
Caption:
The revitalized House Dining system will have an array of new food stations throughout the five dining halls, including an Indian food station in The Howard Dining room at Maseeh Hall.
Credits:
Photo courtesy of Bon Appétit

MIT Campus Dining is working with Bon Appétit, the recently selected vendor for the expanded house dining program, to ensure that students enjoy meals that are both interesting and healthy. Bon Appétit is focused on using quality ingredients and home-cooking techniques to create outstanding meal options: soups and sauces handmade from scratch, breads and pastries made in-house daily, farm-to-fork organic produce and meat wherever possible, and much more.

One of the many benefits of MIT’s dining plan is that students will enjoy all-you-care-to-eat service at every meal. This means diners can experiment with new choices and enjoy old favorites at each of the five dining halls based on personal tastes and nutrition, without worrying about the cost of individual items.

Dining halls will be open for hot breakfast and dinner, with Maseeh Hall operating a lunch service and Simmons providing late-night dining options, but students on a tight schedule may opt for grab-and-go breakfast in all locations or boxed lunch from Maseeh.

Those interested in a boxed lunch will order the night before and can pick up their lunch during breakfast service the next morning. Students adhering to a halal diet will find numerous options, and the new “pure” station operating in each hall will feature changing selections of vegetarian dishes prepared with the freshest possible ingredients.

At all residence halls, MIT and Bon Appétit will be offering expanded stations with unique food selections that emphasize both flavor and nutrition. Each of the dining halls will feature at least one specialty station that all students participating in the meal plan may enjoy. Based on student feedback, stations may rotate to reflect the wants and needs of those living in that particular dining residence. For the upcoming semester, proposed new stations are as follows:

Baker House
  • Pi: The Pi station will feature handmade pizzas, calzones and casseroles. All pizzas are mixed and kneaded in the MIT kitchens, and the sauce is a simple mixture of quality ingredients: tomatoes, garlic, aromatic herbs and olive oil. Students may also select house-made bread and grill their own panini using Pi’s daily selection of fresh ingredients.
  • Sushi: At the sushi bar, students will find the freshest sushi prepared regularly throughout dining hours alongside lo mein salads, seaweed salads, soups and edamame.
McCormick Hall
  • Creperia: Students may customize crepes from the expansive list of daily ingredients. The creperia will also offer one sweet and one savory specialty crepe each day.
  • Global: Students who want to step outside their comfort zone and taste popular foods from around the world will enjoy the global station, which highlights a new cuisine each week. A stir-fry station will feature ingredients from that week’s cuisine, served alongside prepared menu items including Japanese barbecue, steamed dumplings, sushi, Indian side dishes, Mediterranean accompaniments and more.
Next House
  • Smokehouse Grill: From burgers made with natural ground chuck to hickory-smoked spareribs to fish tacos, the Smokehouse Grill will use an on-site smoker to prepare meats that exhibit a deep, smoky flavor.
  • Roma: If students prefer comforting Italian flavors, they can head to Roma, Next House’s make-your-own pasta station. A customized pasta dish will be prepared to order for each diner.
  • Bits & Bytes: The food at this station changes daily according which fresh and local ingredients are available. Among the offerings, students may find a cold mezze display, Vietnamese wrap station, strawberry shortcake bar, dim sum bar, dessert bites or a local cheese and bread display.
Simmons Hall
  • Rotisserie: Every day, the rotisserie station roasts chicken, pork loin, brisket, and a variety of other meats in-house for a juicy and succulent flavor. Classic accompaniments may include spicy slaw, peppered corn pudding, macaroni and cheese, whipped potatoes or bacon and scallion cornbread.
  • Grill 229: With an expanded selection of menu items, Grill 229 will be serving ground-beef burgers and all-beef hot dogs, other grill favorites, hand-cut french fries and onion rings, and a 15-topping bar.
Maseeh Hall
MIT’s newest residence hall will include a state-of-the-art dining facility and an expanded selection of food stations including a deli, a traditional grill, Simple 600, Taj and kosher stations. Simple 600 and Taj are the newest concepts in the Maseeh facility:
  • Simple 600: This station will offer delicious and nutritious meals for 600 calories or fewer. Flavored with local and international spices and seasonings, students will enjoy an ever-changing display of food that maximizes nutrition and flavor while minimizing calories, salt and fat.
  • Taj: With a menu and techniques developed by India-born chef, teacher and cookbook author Raghavan Lyer, Taj showcases spices and seasonings from the Far East. Fresh-baked naan, an array of chutneys and fragrant basmati rice accompany main courses like murgh (chicken) vindaloo, rohgan josh (yogurt-marinated lamb with ginger and garlic) and ktarikai goshtu (eggplant in a tamarind chili sauce).
Weekly menus for basic stations and specialty stations will be available to students weekly. Students may eat in their residence hall’s dining facility or join friends in one of the other four facilities, based on that day’s offerings. Menus will note vegan, vegetarian, kosher and halal dishes for those with special diets.

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