Renovated Berkshire Dining Commons aims to be a national showcase.
“On this side, they can enjoy slices of brick oven pizza, made to order, sitting at the counter or in a booth. And over here we have the Vegan-Veggie station. Right here is where the salad bar goes. Sushi is served three days a week...and of course our on-site bakeshop.”
Ken Toong, Director of Dining Services at UMass Amherst is leading a tour of the newly renovated Berkshire Dining Commons in the Southwest residential area. When it opens in the first week of September, students will find a state-of-the-art dining facility that aims to be a national showcase. UMass Amherst, the fifth-largest college dining service in the country, is already nationally recognized as one of the best. In 2005 it earned the top award from the National Association of College & University Food Services. The Berkshire renovation brings UMass Amherst’s dining service to a new level.
Based on the concept of what Toong calls “on-demand” dining, Berkshire has 10 separate stations, together offering a range of cuisines, from which students can choose food made to order. Sporting tempting signs that read “Veggilicious” and “Taste of Italy,” names coined by students in a contest held last spring, each station has its own character and kitchen.
It also tenders a feast for the eyes, boasting expansive views of the campus to the east and the Berkshire foothills to the west.
“The view at sunset is stunning,” says Vic Keedy who, as manager of Berkshire, has overseen every detail of the renovation. Keedy, a veteran of UMass Amherst’s dining services as both a manager and a student, reminisces about his own student days. “When I came here, they didn’t even have a salad bar, and there was only one entree choice.”
The days of bland plastic cafeteria trays and hard benches are long gone, too. As well as being able to order from a menu of food choices that run the gamut from Pan Asian to burgers and fries, Berkshire diners have a choice of pulling up stools at sleek granite counters and watching their orders cooked up at the individual stations or gathering with friends in the cozy booths.
Four 46-inch, flat-screen televisions will broadcast the latest news, sports and other entertainment. Wireless Internet is available for those who want to compute and munch at the same time. “The dining commons should be the hub of campus life,” Toong explains.
Students need not worry about missing designated dining times: this is “continuous dining.” Berkshire opens at 7 am and closes at midnight. Students too rushed to head upstairs to the Deli or Berkshire Grill can dash into the Grab-n-Go. This section, appointed with stainless steel appliances and cobalt blue tiles, has ready and waiting entrees, sandwiches, snacks, drinks, and other favorites. A swipe of a meal card, and a sophomore on her way to an English lit class can be on her way. Grab-n-Goes are already in place at some of the other dining halls on campus, but none is more stylish than Berkshire’s.
While the actual construction took just eight months—impressive for a project this ambitious—the planning took much longer. Toong, Keedy, and their team toured what they identified as the top college dining services in the country. Some of the schools were impressive, Keedy reports, “But we didn’t find a single school out there that had everything we wanted.” So they combined the best of all of them.
Ultimately for both Toong and Keedy, and the thousands of students they serve every day, the bottom line is the food. Students tell them what they want, whether it’s locally grown produce, fair-trade coffee, or top quality pizza and burgers. “We listen and we respond, Toong says. “In the end, it’s all about the food.”