New chef Tyler Depperschmidt
Students will have more food options in the McPherson College dining hall this semester thanks to the new Epic Eats food station, according to Trevor Schwendiman, director of dining services. The weekly themed menus feature barbeque, tacos, and Pho, among other favorites.
Many of the food choices offered in the dining hall come directly from student surveys. Fresh Ideas, the campus food service, makes focused efforts a few times each year to survey students, and all diners can leave comments or suggestions using QR codes at each table at any time.
“Our menu is their menu,” Schwendiman said. “I would say 80 to 85% of our menu reflects input from students. Their feedback has a huge impact on our decisions.”
Another change implemented this semester is the self-serve deli station. The sandwich bar offers more customization for the ultimate hoagie, and the salad bar will return to the dining hall.
Some things will not change, according to Schwendiman. The kitchen staff will continue preparing real food ingredients like hand-cut vegetables. In addition, the occasional monotony breakers, such as the totcho bar, sundae bar, and decorate your own cookies, will make an appearance throughout the year.
Another unique feature of the McPherson College dining hall that will continue is the variety of entrees prepared in the smoker. The smoker, which sits outside of the Hoffman Student Union, was made locally from an old propane tank, weighs about 3,000 pounds, and is fueled with Kansas red oak and hickory delivered to the college.
“It is unusual for a college food service to have something like this,” Schwendiman said. “We use it at least two times a week and prepare things like smoked chicken, pork, salmon, and even cheese. I enjoy cooking with it. You can smell it across campus when we fire it up.”
The Fresh Ideas staff increased this semester by adding two chefs and an assistant director. Tyler Depperschmidt, one of the new chefs, is a familiar face at McPherson College. He graduated with a degree in accounting in 2019 and was a member of the Bulldog football team. As a student he worked in the dining hall and is excited about returning to campus.
The dining hall is open Monday through Thursday, serving breakfast from 7:15 to 9:30 a.m.; lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; dinner from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.; and late night from 8 to 10 p.m. The dining hall closes at 7 p.m. on Fridays and reopens Saturdays and Sundays for brunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 6:30 p.m.