In Search of Roast Beast

It's turkey time again, and most undergraduates are turning their thoughts toward home and sweet smells of the kitchen.

But deep underground, the cooks at Harvard's central kitchen keep working on, preparing three meals a day for nearly 1900 undergraduates.

In order to keep all the students living in Eliot, Kirkland, Leverett, Lowell and Winthrop Houses well fed, the central kitchen will purchase $1,985,000 worth of food this year, said Food Buyer Philip R. Bauer '36.

The central kitchen and its five dining halls employ 91 full-time employees--including 17 cooks, nine assistant cooks, and 50 part-time employees. Here are just a few of the many Food Services people who keep tasty food on our plates day in and day out: (clockwise from the top) JOHN SULLIVAN whipping up batches up fluffy mashed potatoes; WILLIE HARDMON carrying pies out of the pastry department; VASCO MELLO in the central store room upacking green olives slated for the salad bar; DAVE BERRY putting dinner rolls in the oven; and JOE KALOUSDIAN driving lunchtime goodies through the food tunnels to different houses.

This year alone, the central kitchen will serve 25,000 pounds of roast beef, 9300 gallons of ice cream and 17,196 gallons of orange juice. And not all the food Harvard serves is equally popular. More students like pasta dishes than any other main course menu, says Richard J. Montville, manager of the College dining halls, and ice cream is the favorite dessert. Then there's always broccoli cheese pasta.

But if you're stranded in Cambridge over the holidays, you're not alone. Although all College dining halls except Adams House are closed on Thanksgiving Day, Food Services has planned a special holiday dinner--including turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes--for the 325 undergraduates expected to feast on Harvard's roast beast.

The Freshman Union and North House are the only dining halls open on Friday, but all dining halls except Currier, Cabot and Dudley will reopen on Saturday. Cabot and Currier will reopen for Sunday brunch.

Happy eating!