BRUNSWICK

It’s not the first time Bowdoin College has made Princeton’s list for the best college grub in the nation, but as Director of Dining and Bookstore Services Mary Lou Kennedy puts it, “A lot hasn’t changed.”

Kennedy, who refers to her title as Books and Cooks, says that although the dining experience has become more innovative over the years, listening to the students and adapting to their wants and needs has always been at the forefront.

Homemade soups, fresh ingredients, organic gardens and an on-site bakery and butchering cold room paired with local and responsibly sourced meat and seafood sets Bowdoin aside. Although Kennedy knows the Princeton Review is less-than-scientific in its process, she understands the accolades.

“Our associate director went to Johnson and Wales. Our sourcing manager has his degree from Johnson and Wales. We’ve got a number of people with culinary degrees that are here,” Kennedy said.

Beyond formal training as a chef, Kennedy said a lot of the kitchen staff just learned on the job and that all of the chefs work with and learn from each other.

According to Kennedy, one of the chefs travels every vacation to Africa, Asia and South America. “He’s seen a lot of this food in its indigenous form, so he’s able to really help translate that when we’re doing ethnic foods,” Kennedy said.

She said he’ll be gone for four days and return saying he had just spent time in Paris.

It’s not just the cooking staff that makes Bowdoin number one. Kennedy said students have stepped in and taken an active role in running the dining room and adding to feedback and quality control.

“We have a great student employee program with student managers — they do a lot of the front of the house work,” Kennedy said, adding that those student managers report after their shift on popularity and portions of food items for each meal.

Local, organic sourcing for meals also helps ensure that not only are the students eating healthy but that they are supporting local farmers and fishermen.

“About 12 years ago, we began working with Farm Fresh Connection and that was our first foray into local sourcing,” Kennedy said. Kennedy said the college now works with Performance Food Group; a company that deals with several Maine farms.

Kennedy said other items are also purchased directly from other local farms and suppliers, including local seaweed for miso soup and salads. She said the college also has been tending their own organic gardens for about a decade.

Kennedy said the college is also a culinary partner with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, working to make better use of underutilized species and responsibly harvested fish.

“We use a lot of local mussels too. The students seem to like those,” Kennedy said.

Things are quiet now in Thorne Hall but Kennedy said that will all change soon, with upcoming student orientation on the way, two dining halls, a grill and a cafe cranking out 24 meal periods a week with three meals a day as well as a Thursday through Friday “super snack” from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Kennedy said the dining services also serve as a form of entertainment where students can gather and unwind. Dining services also put on various events like “Just Like Home” night where parents submit recipes from home to be worked into the menu.

Kennedy also said they put on a chef competition where teams of students vie against each other for top chef accolades. Faculty also occasionally request regional foods that work into their curriculum as was the case with a professor she noted who was teaching about the Mediterranean region and asked if that lesson could be carried over into a meal.

Chow down

THINGS ARE QUIET now at Bowdoin College’s Thorne Hall but that will all change soon, with upcoming student orientation on the way, two dining halls, a grill and a cafe cranking out 24 meal periods a week with three meals a day as well as a Thursday through Friday “super snack” from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.