By Leah Wilkinson
Dining changes are once again apparent on Bellarmine’s campus.
In addition to the COVID-19 safety precautions like floor markings and sanitizer stations, there are new menu items, four-to-a-table seating, reusable dinnerware and more.
“There was a survey that went out for satisfaction at the end of the fall semester, and really all the changes and the initiatives we’re taking during the spring semester are coming from that feedback from the students and the campus community,” Sodexo General Manager Michael Baux said.
Thanks to General Mills, the University Dining Hall has the first touchless cereal dispensers at a Kentucky college. Baux said the dispensers are unique for the part of the country, as there aren’t any colleges in Indiana, Ohio or Tennessee with them.
Baux said restaurants in Cafe Ogle such as Einstein’s and Pizza Hut are now back to full menus after experimenting with limited menus in the fall due to Covid-19.
Wow Cafe is also getting back on track for a full menu and starting promotional items, with specials available throughout the semester.
Farmer’s Field — which was closed in the fall due to the pandemic — has reopened, serving specialty salads daily.
Baux said menu items at Palio have been adjusted, too, with the removal of some and the addition of others.
Bellarmine Dean of Students Dr. Sean McGreevey said he hopes this semester will provide students fresh, new items.
“One of the things in any dining program, and I will say in our program as well, is that people get tired of it or feel like it’s the same-old-same-old, or that it’s too routine,” McGreevey said.
McGreevey said that’s when it’s important to get creative like Baux has done this semester.
“Obviously, Covid provides some challenges to that, but I also think [Sodexo is] also just really interested in keeping things fresh,” McGreevey said. “I think that’s their strategy and I think Michael has got a lot of energy around that and I think that’s the way he’s supervising and running the operation.”
Junior business administration major Paul Kotarski said he utilizes all the dining facilities on campus.
“I think just with Covid and everything they’ve made a lot of efforts to make things as safe as possible,” Kotarski said. “They make things really safe and accessible and just easy. I really like the swipe feature and how you can get swipes at Palio and Cafe Ogle.”
UDH offerings will change, too, with specialty salads of the week, as well as specialty dressing.
Baux said there are also more salad toppings and more salad proteins to go along with chicken, which was also offered in the fall.
“There’s shrimp on the salad bar, and students and the campus community will also start seeing flank steak,” Baux said.
Baux said there are also pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and strawberries at the salad bar, and for those who aren’t vegan: mozzarella balls.
At the deli station, there are specialty breads and upscale meat offerings.
Baux said other UDH stations are getting fresh new items, too.
“We have rolled out cauliflower crust as well as rotating special Italian pastas and Italian salads at the pizza station,” Baux said.
Wild Mushroom now has plant-based chicken, meatballs, tofu and sausage.
The section between the Culinary Corner and Wild Mushroom that previously had pasta and sauce seven days a week has some new additions, too.
“We didn’t eliminate that — we’re still very much offering pasta and sauce a couple times a week, but we’re also adding new snack-type foods everybody can get,” Baux said.
This includes items like baked potatoes, nachos, crepes, pot stickers and Mexican street corn.
“It’s a fun little station that just constantly rotates to keep that variety as well,” Baux said.
UDH returned to the reusable dinnerware it used pre-pandemic, including cups and silverware. Baux said the switch back was due in large part to getting a new dishwasher and implementing new precautions to keep all dishes and utensils clean.
“I’m thrilled that we’re back to that practice,” McGreevey said. “It’s just nicer. I’d rather eat on a real plate than a disposable plate.”
Those who went to UDH in the fall may also recall tables being limited to two people per table.
Baux said this semester’s seating has been adjusted to create more sense of togetherness while also maintaining the 6-feet social distancing.
“We adjusted the seating, continuing to follow necessary safety guidelines, but really creating and fostering that sense of community for the students,” Baux said.
Baux said there are more events planned for this semester than there were in the fall semester.
Although there are slight changes, students can still celebrate their birthdays with the special UDH birthday cupcakes at the end of every month, too. Baux said one change is that cupcakes are packaged individually
“If students don’t make it to UDH to get their cupcakes at lunchtime, then we actually transport all of the cupcakes up to Palio for dinner, so they actually have two chances so nobody misses their birthday,” Baux said. “We don’t want anybody missing their birthday cupcake.”
Megan Briegel, Bellarmine’s Sodexo field marketing coordinator, said she’s also had to make some adjustments in her role during the pandemic.
Briegel said there aren’t always as many students at UDH due to hyflex learning and remote classes.
“That is the reason why we’re starting to push events out to all the different locations,” Briegel said. “So no matter where you dine with us, you can still be a part of all the events and really cool things we have going on in the dining program.”
Briegel, who runs the Bellarmine Grub social media accounts, said she’s been doing a lot of online promotions for menu items.
“To get people down to UDH, I have been trying to post our new salad dressings and salads of the week and trying to make all of our changes known just to kind of get people excited about the UDH again, and to say, ‘We did listen to your feedback. We have made changes. Come and try us,’” Briegel said.
McGreevey said he hopes students enjoy all the new options and modifications Baux and the rest of the Sodexo staff have made.
“My hope is that over the course of the past six or eight months, what you’re learning is that Michael is just a fantastic manager and is incredibly student-centered and is really running the operation in a way that provides his team some room to be creative,” McGreevey said.
The Bellarmine community can stay up to date on the latest offerings by following the Bellarmine Grub accounts on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
“I think it’s in the right direction as far as transitioning back to normalcy once we’re ready for that,” Kotarski said.