Student-run culinary pop-ups are well-established at JWU Providence's College of Culinary Arts, but JWU’s partnership with TD Garden has added an additional incentive. Select menu items from the junior-level Chef-Driven Contemporary Casual Lab (CUL 3131) have been submitted to Legends, the members-only restaurant on the stadium’s 3rd floor, for possible rotation onto the live menu. Since the program began last year, 6 recipes have been submitted to the Legends team. It’s safe to say that all of the current teams are hopeful that one of their dishes will be chosen.
Concepts are peer-evaluated on the following criteria:
The pop-ups offer real-time experience of what it’s like to work on a line during a lunch rush. At Ohana, a recent Hawaiian-themed pop-up, the line of students waiting eagerly for lunch snaked around the back of the Cintas Dining Room. (In addition, students were calling in to-go orders at a good clip.) Chef Matthew Britt kept an eagle-eyed eye on the line and made sure that the team chefs were keeping up their pace to get orders out promptly. “C’mon guys, get it on the plate!” The stakes were high, but the Ohana team came through with delicious food.
Once everyone sat down to eat, Assistant Dean TJ Delle Donne weighed in on the Ohana team’s efforts: “This meal had connectivity to it. You could feel the theme strongly. There were great dishes in the other groups but this is probably the most cohesive menu.”
The Next Hopefuls
November’s pop-ups celebrate the flavors of the Philippines, Jamaica and Italy. All pop-ups take place in the Cintas Dining Room in the Harborside Academic Center (HAC) and start at 11am. Lunch is free on a first come, first served basis.