By Sara Terpak
Asst. Features Editor
Sacred Heart’s dining service, Chartwells, was very busy over break revamping and enhancing a few of their food stations at Linda’s.
They are proud to announce three new stations that will be offering classic fan favorites on their menus and more. These stations include “Realwich,” formerly “Mondo’s Subs,” “Build,” formerly “2Mato,” and “Breakfast and Co.” formerly “BYOB grill.”
“It was time for the team to be challenged and bring some new and exciting changes,” said Resident District Manager of Chartwells, Mark Tammone.
With these new changes, the ingredient list is increased in order to have more diverse options to keep students happier and healthier.
“Realwich” is featuring sandwiches and other snacks. This station includes Applegate deli meat, fresh bread such as pretzel and focaccia, home-made sauces, pulled pork, and more cheese options.
At this station they offer Applegate, which is a hormone free meat. Sacred Heart is the first college to offer it in New England area.
“It is a better meat option, which is beneficial for the students and important for sustainability,” said Marketing Director, Kayla Hawley.
“Build” is pizza by design. This includes dough made from scratch, cauliflower crust, broccoli cheddar crusts, more sauce, meat and veggie options, and cooked to order.
The biggest change is the “Build” station because the pizzas are now customizable. Instead of the pizzas being pre-made, students are able choose what they prefer on their pizza. To have better quality pizza, they ovens now have the ability to be wood making, making it a wood fired pizza oven.
“The food comes out faster and tastes better. The different crust options also make it easier for those that are gluten free to get pizza as well,” said Baldauf.
Students were curious why certain foods were removed from stations. They were reassured it was to improve the quality of the food that is currently being served and needing more space to improve on other food items. Such was the reason for eliminating dinner options such as Chicken Parmigiana, pasta, and more.
Lastly is “Breakfast and Co.” This includes some student favorites; avocado toast, breakfast tacos, chicken burgers, homemade sauces, and endless customizable options.
“Students crave breakfast all day, and we brought it to Linda’s for the student’s benefit,” said Tammone.
One would think that because of all these changes, it affects the employee’s routines. However, it does not change their routine that drastically. The changes in shifts and who makes what is the only difference. The entire staff enjoys making the new food because of the student’s reaction to it. The staff believes that the changes are going well, too.
“The students enjoy healthier and customizable items. The students are a huge fan of the avocado toast,” said grill cook, Ralph Hopkins.
According to the employees, they are excited to hear about student’s views on the new stations. It’s commonly known amongst SHU students that nothing is more frustrating than waiting in a long line for food, especially at Linda’s. However, the food must be worth the wait.
But students won’t have to wait in long lines anymore.
Coming soon is the boost mobile ordering at the three new stations. Students are able to use a free app to pre-order their food. It is nice for students who are on the go or in a rush.
“I’m noticing students are more interactive and are adjusting to these changes in a positive way,” said Hopkins.
