Students bond over SAGE cuisine in the dining hall on National Pasta Day.
By Jai Midha ’27
Students, faculty, and staff walking into the dining hall are sometimes greeted by a long table draped in red fabric. On it are an assortment of pies on silver platters. The occasion? National Pie Day. Aside from the typical offerings in the dining hall, SAGE Dining Services will often prepare special foods to spruce up the dining hall menus and provide students with more choices during busy mealtimes.
Assistant Food Service Director Mr. Andy Welle looks for these national food holidays to add to the calendar during the year. These celebrations include National Pasta Day, National Pie Day, National Coffee Day, and more.
For students, the themed days are a breath of fresh air. “I think it adds refreshing variety to my dining experience. I never knew so many national food days existed,” Nick Aldrich ’24 said.
On some days, SAGE will feature a specific food item and serve multiple dishes made with it. On September 27, the theme of the day was “Goodness Grapeness.” SAGE served grape salsa, champagne grape loaf cake, quinoa and green grape salad, as well as tarragon chicken salad with red grapes. They also put up educational posters about grapes next to the dishes.
During International Education Week from October 1 to 7 this year, SAGE sought to use food as a medium for celebrating different cuisines. They featured items from around the world belonging to a different food category every day: breads and spreads, teas, rice and noodles, soups and stews, and comfort foods.
Mr. Welle said, “I met with [Director of Global Engagement] Ms. Ashley Sinclair, and we came up with different features and menus, particularly for International Week.”
James Stuber ’24 enjoys these celebrations and the variety they bring to the dining hall food. “I think it’s a fun little surprise when I step into the hallowed halls of Hill House and see that there are some extra [serving] tables,” he said. “I feel a sense of excitement when I see that there are some different options that I can explore.”
International dishes that SAGE serves are something for students, especially ones from overseas, to bond over. Toffy Prakittiphoom ’24 shared his experience connecting with his friend’s culture when the dining hall served kimchi stew. His friend’s grandma used to carry clay pots from the village waterfall to make kimchi, and Prakittiphoom was glad to learn about his friend’s upbringing and culture through the dish.
The planning and decisions behind these dining hall celebrations go beyond SAGE. At Choate, student representatives on the Dining Hall Committee serve as a liaison between the student body and SAGE.
“We take feedback from the students and then relay that information to [adviser to the Dining Hall Committee] Ms. Katrina Homan or Mr. Welle in our meetings,” Ethan Zhang ’26 said. “We would all discuss that and try to come up with solutions or responses to that feedback and get back to the kids afterward.”
For both SAGE and the Dining Hall Committee, their primary goal is for students to enjoy foods from the cultures of their peers. “We try our best to make the dining experience the best we can,” Mr. Welle said.
