{"id":120717,"date":"2017-02-06T10:04:01","date_gmt":"2017-02-06T15:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=120717"},"modified":"2023-06-27T13:08:43","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T17:08:43","slug":"new-and-traditional-favorites-among-top-10-campus-foods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2017\/02\/new-and-traditional-favorites-among-top-10-campus-foods\/","title":{"rendered":"New and Traditional Favorites Among Top 10 Campus Foods"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I<\/span>n a windowless kitchen on the third floor of UConn\u2019s Student Union, Rob Landolphi carefully plates a serving of his award-winning Vegan Crab Cakes. He then places it on a stainless steel table covered with an assortment of other dishes \u2013 a delectable array of established campus favorites and new offerings still in development.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost lunchtime, and the aroma wafting up from the display makes it all the more inviting. Landolphi, who is culinary operations manager of campus dining services, encourages a pair of visitors to dig in. Besides the crab cakes, the offerings include a Buffalo Chicken Wrap, a Mediterranean Salmon Salad with Whole Grain Mustard, and Garlicky Cheesy Pull-Apart Bread \u2013 a made-to-be-shared comfort option introduced just six weeks earlier.<\/p>\n

The excitement in his voice makes it plain how much Landolphi enjoys his job. It\u2019s a big one. He oversees the feeding of what amounts to a small city of about 30,000 people. The eight dining halls and assorted campus food venues under his direction \u2013 which include eight cafes, a food court, food truck, and Chuck & Augie\u2019s restaurant \u2013 serve well over 200,000 meals a week. Annually, his department serves up nearly 5.8 million meals on the Storrs campus alone, making UConn one of the largest dining plans in the country in terms of meals served, Landolphi says.<\/p>\n

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Rob Landolphi talks about Dining Services meal offerings. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Coming up with dishes that appeal to the diverse palates and dietary needs of a campus community is a never-ending process that is equal parts art and science. In formulating recipes, Landolphi and his team factor in everything from sales and meal plan data to on- and off-campus culinary trends and feedback from student focus groups. Roughly 10 percent of students on the meal plan have food allergies, Landolphi says. One fifth of the 12,000 recipes on the campus menu are gluten free \u2013 enough to prompt Dining Services to open a gluten-free bakery last year. Ethnic dishes have been expanded for the growing number of international students.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids are more discriminating about food than they have ever been before,\u201d Landolphi says. \u201cWe\u2019re all about seasonal, sustainable, locally sourced food that\u2019s as clean as possible; and bigger, bolder flavors.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Top Five Foods
Served at UConn<\/h2>\n

UConn dining uses seasonal, sustainable, and locally-sourced food that\u2019s as clean as possible to create some undeniable dishes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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