The annual Spring Faire, which usually features several cultural food stations in White Plaza, took place in the dining halls this year as a result of rain on Thursday.
According to Residential & Dining Enterprises Communications Director Jocelyn Breeland, the Faire was dispersed across the dining halls because of the cold and wet weather.
“We want to do what will be most comfortable for students,” Breeland said in an email to The Daily.
The dining halls were originally scheduled to be closed for dinner, but because of the change in venue, each dining hall featured an expanded menu featuring a particular cultural theme. Themes ranged from “Streets of Mumbai” in FloMo to “Murica” at Lakeside. Students could use a meal plan swipe at any dining hall as usual, and previously purchased tickets could be turned in to the cashier at any dining hall for entry.
Charles Lu ’18 had purchased a ticket for the Faire and said while he would have liked to have eaten different types of food, he enjoyed the Thai concept food at Wilbur.
“It was pretty tasty. It was pretty convenient, right next to my dorm,” he said, adding that he would like to see R&DE host more events like the Spring Faire year round.
Robert Poole ’15 said that in past years, he enjoyed being able to share a meal with students he usually does not have the chance to eat with.
“Spring Faire was a really huge spectacle in past years, because they take over all of White Plaza, and they have all the dining staffs from all the dining halls out there, and you see all these people from across campus,” Poole said. “It was a break from the usual, so that was fun, but it didn’t have this huge bonding thing of being outside. But what can you do with rain?”
Two dining halls still featured entertainment. At Lakeside, Kathleen Howell ’18 performed with the Stanford Jump Rope Troupe.
“It’s fun for the team, and it’s good exposure getting different audiences, so that’s always nice,” Howell said. “The jump rope team ate there afterwards. Some of our students are grad students or non-meal plans, and they were like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so good. I want to be on the dining plan.’”
R&DE Stanford Dining Chef David Iott also led a class in making Jamie Oliver’s “Squash It Sandwich” at each dining hall to celebrate Food Revolution Day.
Contact Tristan Vanech at tvanech ‘at’ stanford.edu