Cafeteria Foodies with Flair
January 21, 2010 7:45 PM   Subscribe

Twins Annie and Connie Wu wanted to liven up their meals at Brown University's cafeteria, affectionately known as the Ratty. So the two foodies made their own blog, Ratty Gourmet, about how to do cafeteria dining in style, including recipes for Nutella S'mores or Pasta and Spinach Salad Medley with Egg.
posted by jonp72 (26 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
i used to work in the ratty :P

BFS!
posted by kliuless at 7:56 PM on January 21, 2010


If this place already has guacamole, how bad could it be?
posted by hermitosis at 7:59 PM on January 21, 2010


If it does not have marshmallows, it is not a s'more.

That is all.
posted by LittleMissCranky at 8:03 PM on January 21, 2010


"She also created a meatball mask in a studio foundation art class."

I want to see this mask of meatballs.
posted by longsleeves at 8:21 PM on January 21, 2010


Can we retire the word "foodie" please?
posted by Ratio at 8:25 PM on January 21, 2010 [2 favorites]


Brown (and the Ratty) has hosted related shenanigans in the past...
posted by heyforfour at 8:28 PM on January 21, 2010


When someone starts a blog about how to make MRE's delicious, well then I'll be impressed. But an ivy that has tofu and cracklin' oatbran available? Making pseudo-gourmet dishes out of it seems about as hard as meeting the graduation requirements at Brown.

not meant to be offensive to Brown grads
posted by Lutoslawski at 8:36 PM on January 21, 2010 [2 favorites]


There was no Nutella for us on my school's meal plan, and no WAY were there cans of whipped cream.
posted by longsleeves at 8:52 PM on January 21, 2010


Yeah, I don't think having actual ingredients available to you to create your own meals is typical of the school cafeterias I've eaten in. This is like calling yourself a "salad bar gourmet".
posted by Big Fat Tycoon at 8:58 PM on January 21, 2010


They're in the heart of Providence. If they can't find decent food for cheep within a block or two of their dorm, they deserve to be mocked for being stupid and lazy. It goes like this in the USA for a foodie looking for their Mecca: New York <-- Providence <-- Anywhere else north of the Mason/Dixon and east of the Mississippi.

This avoids completely the awesomeness of Rhodey cuisine outside Prahvdinz's boahdahs. You can't get a decent stuffie or johny-cake inside the city limits, for one... and you gotsa look hahhd for a decent sleeve a' New York System foah anuddah. (Imagine, in your mind, the best hot dog ever. Then blow it up with a hundred tons of TNT, and an angel comes down from a heaven where everyone drives hot-rodded Camaros, and hands you a steamed bun with a pork-and-veal dog topped with celery salt and ground beef stewed for weeks, err, days, I mean hours in a spicy butter broth just to amaze you with the unlikely awesomeness of it, and then have a narwhal leap over you with a rainbow... that's not as good as a decent New York System.)

So. Any foodie blog from Brown that fails to mention Not Just Snacks or Sicilia's isn't worth the bits it's cached on.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:58 PM on January 21, 2010 [4 favorites]


So. Any foodie blog from Brown that fails to mention Not Just Snacks or Sicilia's isn't worth the bits it's cached on.

The point of the blog is to share dishes they've made from the ingredients at their dining hall, not to highlight restaurants from the surrounding area. Chill out.
posted by kylej at 9:10 PM on January 21, 2010 [3 favorites]


OK. I will admit the Brown Caf sux. I'm chill... Not Just Snack rules! Unless you order snacks, in which case they're old and stale. Anything else.. rules! Also, no booze, very Muslim. So, yeah. The India rules! Broiled-not-fried samosas, yeah! Plus, free beer/wine weekdays! Rules!
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:14 PM on January 21, 2010


You can argue about the wealth of options available at Brown if you like (waffle batter you cook up yourself?), but given those options, the recipes are pretty creative (add a bit of peanut butter to that waffle batter!). Fun and interesting food blog, thanks.
posted by mediareport at 9:16 PM on January 21, 2010


S'more
1. Break graham cracker in half. Spread one square with Nutella.
2. Sprinkle chocolate chips over Nutella side of cracker.
3. Give it a spritz of whipped cream, sprinkle chocolate sprinkles on top, and enjoy.


Nice to know I was a gourmet foodie, eating in style, as early as four years of age.
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:27 PM on January 21, 2010


The Daily Jolt had a "Ratty Recipe Repository" until they fucked with the site sometime last year and it completely died (worst redesign ever, basically killed the business). This is basically that. And I hate to say it, but I never used the RRR because I was too lazy and the food was actually all right...I wish I'd had time to make some gourmet nutella peanut fairydust waffle, but I just didn't.
posted by awesomebrad at 4:30 AM on January 22, 2010


As an employee of Johnson & Wales, just across town, with our great culinary program, I can only assume this means one of two things: our dorm food starts out better than Brown's, or we should get those ladies over here and put them on the faculty.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:13 AM on January 22, 2010 [1 favorite]


Also, no booze, very Muslim

Unless you bring it yourself. From the liquor store across the street.

<3 Not Just Snacks
posted by Kattullus at 6:29 AM on January 22, 2010


it's been done before
posted by availablelight at 6:36 AM on January 22, 2010


Or, you could just go to a school that serves decent food?
posted by Antidisestablishmentarianist at 9:40 AM on January 22, 2010


Sorry, better link.
posted by Antidisestablishmentarianist at 9:44 AM on January 22, 2010


Another former Brown Dining Services employee. (Holler!) One of the best things about Brown is that Brown Dining Services it's its own subsidiary small business (as is also, incidentally, the bookstore). That is to say, dining is not outsourced to a giant corporation like it is at most schools.

If this place already has guacamole, how bad could it be?

It comes frozen in a gigantic plastic bag. Trust, it is still not great.

As an employee of Johnson & Wales, just across town, with our great culinary program, I can only assume this means one of two things: our dorm food starts out better than Brown's, or we should get those ladies over here and put them on the faculty.

Ha! Johnson and Wales students and grads comprise a substantial portion of the staff and chefs at Brown's eateries, in fact.

This is a cute blog. Thanks for drawing attention to it.
posted by lunit at 9:59 AM on January 22, 2010


They're in the heart of Providence.
The East Side is hardly the "heart."

posted by lunit at 10:03 AM on January 22, 2010 [1 favorite]


The East Side is hardly the "heart."

Now, don't get all "West Side" on us here, OK? This is a classy joint....
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:39 AM on January 22, 2010


Lutoslawski, what do you think are the graduation requirements at Brown?
posted by pelham at 1:38 AM on January 23, 2010


I agree with the sentiment if you can't find good food in PVD, you should be drawn and quartered for criminal stupidity.

I moved to Boston for a year and whined CONSTANTLY about the lack of good food. Hell, within a block of my house here I have Cuban Revolution and Cilantro! Not to mention Julian's within walking distance. And Sicilia's. Not Just Snacks requires a car or RIPTA, but anything on Thayer is still a reasonable walk. In Boston - I lived two blocks up from Newbury St. and the only places worth eating were in Chinatown. A 20 min. walk, and well worth it, but still. Just the ONE option. (Yes, I tried almost every restaurant I could walk to - the ones that were under $20/person that is, and yes, they were universally disappointing.)

I had a friend come to visit PVD for a weekend and she asked me if there were any good places to eat. I told her she'd have to come back and spend a good two weeks if we were going to make a comprehensive go of it - and that would still require a few days of brunch in addition to dinner. (We did make it to Brickway, which is only the best brunch anywhere.)

I like the idea of this blog, but it seems silly knowing the food availability in PVD. I imagine their audience doesn't understand that East Side Pockets is just up the street, at which they can get an incredible falafel wrap under $8.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 12:43 PM on January 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


I'd like to point out to all the haters out there that these girls are presumably already on meal plan. One could speculate as to why they're on meal plan (cost, convenience, etc.), but that's beside the point. The point being they're trying to make the best of the money that they've already been spent.
posted by seliopou at 2:22 PM on January 23, 2010


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