Students at the University of Massachusetts who are unable to return home for Thanksgiving break won’t have to sacrifice that warm turkey dinner. Though dining halls will be closed on Nov. 28, Blue Wall Café will be serving up special meals all day at its second-annual Blue Wall Thanksgiving Buffet.
From 8 to 10:45 a.m., the cafe will be serving a breakfast buffet open to anyone on campus for the price of $8 per person. From 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., a Thanksgiving dinner buffet will be served for $10.25 per person. Blue Wall will also be serving its usual light fare choices such as deli sandwiches, pizzas and soups at their normal prices. Students may use a residential or YCMP swipe for the buffet or light fare. Cash, credit and UCard debit will also be accepted.
UMass Dining will continue to uphold its dedication to healthy and sustainable ingredients for this holiday event. The breakfast menu will include an assortment of bakeshop pastries and muffins, all-natural, nitrate-free bacon, low sodium breakfast sausage, French toast with local maple syrup, cheese and vegetable frittatas, hash browns, local cage-free scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, juice and coffee.
The Thanksgiving dinner buffet will be serving apple and sage cornbread stuffing, wild mushroom and green bean casserole, honey-glazed local sweet potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts, quinoa and dried cranberry stuffed acorn squash, freshly baked pie and, of course, roasted turkey with gravy.
Van Sullivan, assistant retail dining manager and one of the main directors of the event, is particularly excited about the locally sourced free-range turkey that will be served on Thanksgiving day, which he was chided for calling “badass” last year.
“But really, this turkey is pretty badass,” he said with a grin.
Sullivan will be cooking this year’s Thanksgiving dinner alongside Matthia Accurso, UMass executive sous chef. Sullivan expressed his excitement about the event’s second year.
“Last Thanksgiving, we anticipated perhaps 30 people to show up, but there were at least 150,” he said, remembering one particular student from Queens who brought her whole family to Blue Wall for dinner.
“Dining halls are a huge production and we serve about 3,000 people a day here at Blue Wall, so it makes these little events really fun to have,” he added.
Breakfast and light fare meals will be served by a small number of people from the UMass dining staff as well as student employees who are remaining in the area during the holiday. Sullivan said that he sees all of this participation as an opportunity for service, and that he “wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He plans to return home for a Thanksgiving meal with his own family after he finishes serving families at UMass.
Sullivan said that he looks forward to helping others during this holiday season, even if it’s just one person.
“In food service, it’s our job to do this for people, especially on Thanksgiving,” he said.
Kate Leddy can be reached at [email protected].
