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According to Brown Dining Services, the chefs at the Ratty are working to create more Asian-influenced dishes in ways that stretch the boundaries of Asian influence.
While students have noticed the obvious change in branding, many feel that the flavor of the food has remained the same. “The other night they were serving ’Szechuan Lo Mein with a savory Dragon sauce,’” says Alex Waters ’20. “To me, it looked and tasted exactly like spaghetti with marinara, only with a few sesame seeds sprinkled on top.”
Other students, like Aaron Rubenstein ‘17, have found the cuisine to be similarly deceiving. “Lunch the other day was a ‘Wok-style beef patty, with Mandarin Wheat Cakes’—the same hamburgers that they have on the grill side, only squashed into Chinese food takeout boxes."
According to Alex Bishop ‘17, it isn’t just the food that is taking on an Asian influence. “The other day I noticed that the fork containers are now labeled ‘four-headed chopsticks’. Also, I’m pretty sure the new labels they put on the Heinz condiment pumps aren’t written in actual Chinese.”
Janet McDonald, Associate Chair of BDS, is spearheading this effort. “I feel it is important for students to be exposed to both Western and Eastern flavors,” McDonald states. “There are so many delicious dishes you can make by just throwing some soy sauce on whatever you already have lying around.”
Although McDonald refused to outline any specific business plans Brown Dining Services has for the future, interns working at the accounting office have noted a nearly $500,000 purchase was recently placed at Wong’s Wholesale Bamboo LLC.
