Dining at Yale

Imagine gathering some of the finest students in the nation in a picturesque hall, with long wooden tables, paintings of august personages framed on the walls, and simple chandeliers hanging from the vaulted wooden ceiling. Then add to this picture, delicious food: organic milk, loaves of bread and hot soup, fresh lettuce and arugula with a splash of balsamic vinegar, quiche, quarters of roast chicken, tricolor pasta, Brazilian marinated steak. Multiply by 12 for the number of residential colleges, add one for Commons—the “great hall” near the center of campus—and multiply by 3 meals a day. The final product is Yale’s dining system.

The dining hall is probably my favorite part in my day. After a lecture or an intense seminar, nothing beats going to lunch with the people in your class, or just hopping back “home” to have lunch with your residential college friends. And since your swipes work at any residential dining hall as well as Commons, its easy to set up a lunch date with a friend and chat, or get a quick meal at the dining hall closest to your next class. Last year, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I got to combine all these elements—the students in Directed Studies liked to stop by Timothy Dwight College after lecture, because the Whitney Humanities Center is only a block away.

Let me show you some of the offerings available for dinner in Timothy Dwight dining hall:

A delicious green bean dish and chilaquiles verdes


tostones (fried green plantains)


Roast chicken with red beans and rice


Our fresh food cabinet: kiwis, pears, apples, oranges, soy milk, soy yogurt


My delicious balanced meal
(and a free notebook from Yale College Council on the left)

There are also soups (Italian Wedding Soup is the best), fresh breads, Cheerios, a whole table of dressings like balsamic vinegar, sesame oil, and soy sauce, hot coffee, juice, soda, and of course, ice cream. And if you honestly can't find anything you like, the staff will grill you something, like a hamburger or chicken breast, on the spot. And there are tons of random events that make food even better--Sunday Sundaes, birthday cupcakes, apple bushels, candy apples for Halloween. And finally, thanks to the Yale Sustainable Food Project, as much of the food as possible is organic--an experiment that started in Berkeley, giving the college the reputation of having the best dining hall on campus (they still hold the title in my opinion).

Candy apples... mmmmm

But beyond the delicious food and the beautiful settings, what’s best is the company. The conversations I’ve had over meals have been amazing—every Yalie brings something unique to the table, so to speak, so the conversations are lively and fun. The geography spread alone is enough for many conversations, since most everyone is from a different state. Politics, last night’s philosophy reading, and current events can pop up along frivolous college student banter—I distinctly remember talking about pancakes on election night, when our dining halls opened for a special Election Night Breakfast at 10 pm.

What was the inspiration for this post? I got back to school a little early from winter break last year, and so I invited the rest of the TD early arrivals to Sitar, a nearby Indian restaurant for lunch. We were all excited to see each other, chatting about our vacations over to naam bread and marsala, laughing at each other’s jokes. And someone made a comment: “You know what, this is like the TD dining hall.” I thought about it for a bit—good food, fun stories, great company. She was right.

(P.S. Zach Marks, who worked at the admissions office, sporadically wrote a column on how to make your own recipes from the ingredients available at the dining hall: this one’s particularly good:

http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/17571)