Writer Seamus Chiles Troutman shares his deep love for Loyola’s premier dining experience – Damen Dining Hall.
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Writer Seamus Chiles Troutman shares his deep love for Loyola’s premier dining experience – Damen Dining Hall.
Winter has raged on for months, and I hardly remember what the sun looks like. My daily commute to campus is now guided east by a new star — Damen Dining Hall.
Unlike Icarus and the sun, it’s impossible to fly too close to this celestial body. It brings warmth and nourishment to thousands and deserves the highly-esteemed Michelin Star as a medal of honor for everything it has given the Loyola community.
Describing every amazing attribute of Damen would be like counting each grain of sand in the Sahara Desert — simply impossible.
Open every day from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Damen is a never-ending gift for all — even on the Sabbath.
Yes, Damen is a dining hall serving food and beverages, but it’s also so much more than that. Damen is a community center, a conduit of culture, a study spot and a refuge from all external troubles.
Some may say Damen Dining Hall shouldn’t receive a Michelin Star because the food isn’t up to par.
What do these naysayers expect from cooks who work tirelessly to make food for dozens of students in quick succession? Damen is like a family home. It may not be the biggest house on the block, but it’s where memories are everlasting, and it’s always a place to fall back on in hard times.
Let’s examine the Michelin Star criteria. The first two points of emphasis are the quality of the ingredients and the harmony of flavors, according to the Michelin Guide. In truth, I don’t pay attention to the ingredients when I ask for something at Damen. They could pass ostrich toes as chicken tenders and, if it tasted good enough, I’d order it a second time.
As for the second classification, eat a cheeseburger at Damen and tell me you didn’t experience a harmony of flavors. Melted cheese, ketchup and beef sizzling on the plate, snaring and shrouding my eyes with the sight of maroon and gold goodness.
But it’s unhealthy! It’s processed mush! Food poisoning!
But what dish, other than the cheeseburger, contains the entire food pyramid?
The cheese is dairy, the beef is protein, the buns are grain, the lettuce is a vegetable and add an apple on the side for appearances — you don’t even have to eat it — and you’ve got a well-balanced meal.
The next two categories of the Michelin Star’s criteria are the mastery of techniques and the personality of the chef as expressed through their cuisine.
Damen cooks prepare burgers in probably under five seconds. While they sometimes don’t cook the cheese and grab a pre-cooked, lukewarm patty from the stack, no one can argue they haven’t mastered the technique of delivering food swiftly — and they certainly pack personality in every slice of pizza or bowl of rice.
The last category for a Michelin star is consistency both across the entire menu and over time. This may be where Loyola Dining Halls — Damen included — struggle most.
About half the reason I chose to apply to Loyola over Harvard was because of de Nobili Dining Hall’s ice cream machine, and yet it seems the last time I ate ice cream at Loyola, goat hides were still in fashion and wooly mammoth was on the dinner menu.
But in Damen, their Oktoberfest food and festivities are sublime, bringing me back to my days in old Bavaria. Just thinking about the pretzels makes my mouth, and eyes, water. My only wish in life is to taste them once more, but these delicacies are few and fleeting.
Some window watchers whine about the price of admission. They view Damen as a first and second-year experience and nothing more. In the shadows, they snicker about older students who frequent the fine establishment.
Being an upperclassman at Damen isn’t shameful — it’s economic. As the saying goes, time is money. Spending hours grocery shopping, meal-planning and cooking detracts from my scholarly and entrepreneurial pursuits.
If you see an older student in Damen, don’t judge or think they’re lazy. They probably know Latin and have successfully diversified their investment portfolio.
Even Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM graces the hall with her presence. She was born before sliced bread and the NFL. She’s learned a thing or two about where to get a good meal.
Damen Dining Hall is the soul of Loyola. It offers a plethora of food options — almost all of them worthwhile.
Damen is a beacon, a star to many students, and it should receive the accolades it so rightfully deserves.
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