A MORE PERFECT UNION: Pizza and flicks. Linda Cicero

Sophomore Tom Hurlbutt doesn’t mind standing in this long line. After all, it holds the promise of paradise. Paradise Pizza, that is, one of several new dining options in Tresidder Union. “And by spring quarter they may be delivering on campus,” he says.

Hurlbutt, who worked on the advisory group that helped renovate the ground floor of Tresidder, is one happy guy as he surveys the offerings—Subway sandwiches, Peet’s coffee, plasma screens showing DVDs nonstop and a set of computer screens tuned to the week’s events on campus. And that doesn’t begin to include the exotic new dishes in the food court. Previously known in some quarters as “the cave,” it’s been repainted, lit up like an operating theater and renamed Union Square, or U². Clustered ethnic-food stations feature grilled, rotisserie and tandoor cooking, plus make-your-own salads, sushi and wraps. Price tags: $5 to $7.

Linda Cicero

“My personal favorite is probably the barbecued pork,” executive chef Steve Mesa says about the new menu he’s helped create. “The bistro pear salad is also very nice, with candied pecans, blue cheese crumbles and organic greens. And I really like the cauliflower bhaji and lentil dal.”

Students have been agitating for name-brand food for several years. In June, vice provost for student affairs Gene Awakuni terminated the contract of longtime provider Bon Appetit and turned to Stanford’s Residential & Dining Enterprises to find new vendors. With a budget of about $1.5 million and help from the Tresidder Dining Advisory Group, which included representatives of more than 20 University offices and a dozen students, Awakuni set an opening date for the renovated facility of early September 2003 (the ribbon was cut on the food court in January). “It was the wildest trip ever,” says Nadeem Siddiqui, director of Stanford Dining, which runs U² and the revamped Coffee House.

A master plan to revitalize Old Union and White Plaza is now awaiting University approval, and Awakuni hopes new landscaping and recreational facilities will make the central campus a “destination” for students. Junior Joey Natoli says that when he arrived as a freshman and asked, “Where’s the student union?” nobody seemed to know. Today, says the vice president of the ASSU, that’s much less of a problem. Proof positive that the way to students’ hearts is through their stomachs.

RETURN TO TOP