Western Washington University’s Ridgeway Commons will be hosting a food tour for First Year Eats program students on Tuesday, Oct. 15. The event aims to welcome students by guiding them through the various food stations, as well as allowing them to meet the dedicated members of the university’s dining staff.
Ridgeway’s newest addition, the La Mesa station, which celebrates Latin cuisine, will be highlighted during the tour. The station features a variety of dishes, a daily nacho bar with freshly-made tortilla chips and an assortment of toppings for students to easily customize their meal.
“The culinary team saw the opportunity for an additional station and wanted to provide a new cultural cuisine option for guests after determining that previously menued Latin items were immensely popular,” said Alexandra Perez, the senior marketing manager for dining at Western Washington University.
Students are eligible to RSVP if they are enrolled in the First Year Eats program, which is specifically designed to educate and support first-year students and provide the necessary resources to aid in a successful dining experience on campus.
The addition of the La Mesa station will not only celebrate a whole culture of cuisine but will also create further options for students with diverse dietary preferences and restrictions. This enhances the student’s dining experience and also demonstrates a commitment to providing inclusive meals that meet the needs of all students, said Pema Van Voast, a fourth-year student who recently visited the Commons.
“I’m a vegetarian, so it is important to me that I have some options,” Van Voast said. “I think it’s important to have balanced options so that everyone can pick based on preferences, but also dietary preferences.”
Beyond this new addition, the tour will also feature a variety of other dining options in Ridgeway Commons, such as the allergy-friendly Thrive station. This accommodation is featured at all of Western’s dining halls so students with allergies have options wherever they decide to eat.
“What is special about the Thrive station is that all menu items are prepared [to avoid] the top nine allergens and gluten in a separate prep area, so students with any of those allergies can always receive a balanced meal,” Perez said.
The Ridgeway dining hall also anticipates improvements made to the kitchen equipment to keep food fresher longer and to increase cooking capacity.
Paul Kile, the director of dining services at Eastern Washington University, said they host similar events for students on their campus and have had great success with them in the past.
“Those events are really designed to be student activities,” Kile said. “They’re designed to provide some entertainment for our students, something new, so that way there’s some more variety out there.”
Ridgeway Commons plans to host additional dining events in the future and encourages students to check out the full dining calendar on their website.
“As we complete this first round of tours, we will be analyzing and adjusting our strategy to reach a broader audience in the future,” Perez said. “We will be hosting food tours again as part of Viking Launch, early arrival programs and will extend this to anyone interested in being a part of the next one.”
Madelyn Jones (she/her) is a campus life reporter for The Front this quarter. She is a fourth-year News/Editorial pre-major and Anthropology minor. When she’s not working on a story, she likes reading and listening to music. You can reach her at madelynjones.thefront@gmail.com.
