Peer Advisor: The Dining Hall Chef

You know how the campus sandwich stations stack up and which dorms serve desserts worth going back for seconds. Or thirds, or fourths ... that’s the beauty of an all-you-can-eat cafeteria, right? But what about the white-clad nuCuisine chefs ladling out your favorite dishes day in and day out? Chef Mike Freer of Foster-Walker dining hall, better known as Plex, serves anywhere between 1,000 and 1,400 students daily. It’s no surprise that the crowds swell whenever burrito day rolls around. Freer took time out of cooking up a storm to dish us the lowdown on how to make the best of the dining hall experience.

Be daring
According to Freer, the best way to maximize the money you’re spending on meals is to diversify. “Try and expand your horizons,” Freer says. Even though not all the menu items are familiar to students, he recommends trying a bit of everything. Dining halls often host foreign chefs offering tasty, sometimes obscure creations like a mean tea-and-herb cake from South African cuisine, and a Korean chef’s twist on NU’s stir-fry repertoire. On occasion, students can also show a gleam of culinary genius. Freer remembered one student who made an overstuffed sandwich concoction, “utilizing nearly everything” in the Plex pantry. “It was pretty impressive,” Freer says.

But not too daring
While some students can mix-and-match their way to dining hall heaven, not all are so skilled. Some students have tried to cook up masterpieces only to fail miserably. “Most of these involve ice cream,” Freer says. “I try not to dwell on those too much.”

Healthy eats
Students tend to favor drive-through favorites, fried goodies, and “anything covered with cheese,” Freer says. If you want to eat healthy, though, “made-to-order salads are great,” he says. Foster-Walker boasts a sesame-tinged Oriental dressing made from scratch, and each dining hall has a wide variety of toppings for salads. “Vegetarian options tend to be healthier,” Freer says, so take a chance on those roasted vegetables next time you’re loading up your plate.

Eating out?
If you find yourself venturing off campus looking for a local gem, Chef Freer recommends Bar Louie. “Their fish tacos are delicious,” he says.

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