ithacation

On Saturday night, some Hotelies from Hotel Administration 305 (Restaurant Management) presented their group project to the public – the first such offering from the course, according to one of the students. The Statler Hotel’s Taverna Banfi was brought to Trillium, the main dining hall on the agriculture quad. The event, named Taverna at Trillium, offered a student-organized and student-prepared three-course meal for $30. Rebecca Weiss, senior writer at the Daily Sun, and I covered the event for the paper. Walking in, I was awestruck by how well they had changed the ambience of Trillium from the typical bustling dining hall where winding through the aisles in search of a table is a regular occurrence at peak lunch hour, to a much more peaceful and attractive setting. Tables were spaced further apart than usual, and tablecloths replaced used copies of the Daily Sun as table coverings.

The menu awaited us at our seats, and listed the fare for the evening:

Salad ~ Insalate
Banfi salad, hydroponic Bibb letuce, blue cheese, apples, dried cherries, maple vinaigrette

Main Course ~ Secondi
Grilled New York strip steak, sea salt, rosemary oil, balsamic vinegar

Sweet ~ Dolci
White Chocolate Mascarpone Parfait with berries and crushed amaretti cookies

We had arrived relatively soon after the event started, so about a third of the tables in the room were occupied. Rebecca was going to see BJ Novak (Ryan from The Office) soon after dinner, so we ate relatively early. While I’m not in any way a trained food critic, I thought each course was excellent (once again, like at the Daryl Schembeck dinner earlier this month, dessert was a big hit) and each of the HA 305 students we interacted with was very professional. A surprise course was thrown into the meal, as well. A Gnocchi dish (pictured above) came between the salad and the main course.

I’m hoping the hotel school will continue to put on events like these. They provide a showcase for hotelies’ skills and achievements, of which I knew basically nothing before attending the dinners I’ve been to this year and having read Jenna’s blog. At the end of the meal, we received a short evaluation to fill out regarding our experience. All in all, a job well done.