Why didn't things like this happen when I was at UD?

College dining sure has changed since the days I used to sneak into the dining halls. This week my erstwhile alma mater even invited in some international chefs to give students some sustenance besides Cup-o-Noodles and such. Here's the tantalizing press release from UD:

4:53 p.m., Oct. 19, 2007--Gary Guan, a chef born and raised in Beijing who specializes in Western cuisine and worked as the sous chef at the Swissotel in Hong Kong, and Gu Yong Hong, a chef raised in Beijing with two decades of hotel culinary experience from all over China, prepared meals for students in the Pencader Complex dining hall on Monday, Oct. 15, and in the Rodney Complex dining hall on Tuesday, Oct. 16.

Both chefs came to UD as part of ARAMARK's International Guest Chef Exchange, a program designed to showcase the company's finest chefs from various parts of the world. The two chefs arrived in the U.S. from China on Oct. 4 and visited Vassar College and Johns Hopkins University before coming to UD.

On Monday night, the chefs prepared a dinner consisting of handmade dumplings with traditional dipping sauce, Szechuan fried chicken with dried chili pepper, ShanXi handmade fried noodles with assorted vegetables, Beijing-style pan-fried bean curd with ham and shrimp, and Beijing sweet pumpkin soup with papaya.

On Tuesday, the chefs cooked a lunch that consisted of Shan Dong Kung Pao Prawn with spicy chili pepper sauce, traditional northern hand-pulled noodles with chunky beef broth, fried bamboo shoots with asparagus and a Chinese egg cake tower served warm.

Article by Adam Thomas