Scooby and the gang just couldn’t do it. Nancy Drew simply had to draw out. Sherlock Holmes merely gave up and went home. The case that proved too much for these great investigators and private detectives in history? The mystery of the Grinnell Dining Hall Stir Fry Station.
The vacant food station stands unused. The hot tops stay cold. No sound of sizzling sauces or frying vegetables can be heard or smelled. No one is waiting for the delicious prepared dishes and the line for the Pasta Bar grows even longer. What happened to this great station of culinary excellence? Why has it lain derelict, except for a brief revival with an Alaskan Salmon-themed dinner last week? What caused the downfall of arguably the best food since the Dining Committee introduced the Oreo Cream Pie?
“We haven’t been able to keep up a full staff,” said Jeanette Moser, Associate Director of Dining Services.
The decrease in staff can be seen throughout the Dining Hall, but it is the stir fry station that takes the most staff to serve the least diners.
“We are down five full time positions and there just aren’t enough bodies to keep [Stir Fry] going,” said Dick Williams, Director of Dining Services.
The preparation for Stir Fry takes an exorbitant amount of time. A trained chef must start preparing the allergen-friendly sauces and marinades hours before the meal starts. Then, working with trained student workers, the two work tirelessly to sate the near incessant flow of students throughout lunch and dinner.
“D-Hall has a very devoted staff who works hard every day,” said Williams. “It’s best … to have everything open all the time.”
Stir Fry is the most difficult and time-consuming station in the Dining Hall. The Dining Hall serves roughly 1200 diners, many of whom have come to love the variety and taste of the Stir Fry station. The tentative reopening date for the Stir Fry station is November. However, this date is not set in stone. Perhaps other Dining Hall stations are in cahoots to keep the popular station away from the cafeteria.
Is the Pizza Parlor really so innocent in its corner of the Dining Hall? Is the Salad Bar tired of no one taking its healthy claim to fame seriously? Has the 8th Avenue Deli grown jealous of the prolonged fame and success of the Stir Fry station? Is Plat du Jour trying to expand its territory to the bounds of Stir Fry? Is this merely the beginning of a plot to re-order station hierarchy and so overthrow the inner workings of the Dining Hall forever?
