I love to eat. Plain and simple. Food is important to me, which is why my biggest criticism of Fordham as a freshman was the dining hall, or lack thereof. We’ve all been to the Ram Café, but the food options are extremely limited and often repetitive. That is why I was so excited when the new buildings, McKeon and the new law school, opened and I found out it contained multiple brand new dining options. I accepted the challenge to eat only in the new dining facilities for one whole day; my stomach and I were both impressed. 

I am not a breakfast person. I do however believe it is important to shove something in your mouth before a morning class, which is why I went to the new “Simply To Go” kiosk in the lobby of the new building and grabbed a strawberry yogurt cup with granola. The “Simply to Go” kiosk is an extension of the “Simply To Go” stand in the Lowenstein lobby and offers a wider variety of options, such as packaged yogurt parfaits, sandwiches and salads. The strawberry and granola combo was satisfying and energizing before my class. However, what was best was that the yogurt was simple and easy to pick up on the go, just like the name suggests.

After only having a yogurt parfait for breakfast, my stomach was rumbling by the time one in the afternoon rolled around, so I decided to head to the communal dining café in the new building. 

My first impressions were good. The new café is buffet style; there is a chrome salad bar and sleek counter tops displaying actual fresh fruit, juice options and a whole dessert case that would satisfy anyone’s mid-afternoon sweet tooth. For lunch I headed for the salad bar and filled a stark white glass bowl with fresh spinach and salad greens. On top of the greens I added a quinoa spinach salad (I know so much spinach! Sometimes I like to get my Popeye on). The quinoa salad had red onion, egg, mushrooms, grape tomatoes and red bell pepper. I also sampled some of the chickpea salad that had feta cheese and tomato. The salad greens were fresh and crisp in texture, while the quinoa had a nice bite to it. The red bell peppers and grape tomatoes gave the salad some sweetness, which was cut by the meatiness of the large slices of sautéed mushroom. The chickpeas had a nice briny quality to them that meshed nicely with the feta cheese. 

Overall, I found my lunch to be surprisingly fresh and satisfying. I really enjoyed having the option of making my salad and being able to add as much, or as little of an ingredient as I wanted. The sleek design of the café made me feel secure in that the salad bar was kept clean and tidy.

I headed back to the communal dining café to sample the hot dinner entrees from a spacious hot bar at the far end of the café. While the option of Korean Tofu Stir Fry over rice was tempting, I opted for the black bean burrito on a whole-wheat tortilla. Thick cut sweet potato fries were served on the side (my ultimate guilty pleasure! On second thought, my ultimate guilty pleasure is bacon chocolate, but that is a story for another time). I couldn’t resist going back to the salad bar for my share of dinnertime greens. The burrito was good; I enjoyed having the option to pick between a whole-wheat tortilla versus the wheat tortilla. The black beans complemented the rice, tomato and onion filling. The chicken featured in the wrap was well cooked and wasn’t rubbery. My only criticism of the dish was that the tortilla was slightly soggy because it had been nestled in a tray in between other burritos. The sweet potato fries were sweet and salty and had a nice balance of crisp on the outside mushy on the inside. 

Overall, I was impressed with new dining options. The communal dining café is very modern and sleek. I enjoyed being able to eat off the glass plates and liked the control I had over my portions. The food is certainly elevated and more refined than the food at the Ram Café. The range of vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options were decent and represent a bigger push towards offering a wider variety of dining options to meet the needs of Fordham College at Lincoln Center diners.