As much as it pains me to admit it, my biggest vice has always been my picky eating. My food choices during high school most typically consisted of yogurt parfaits and salads served in the cafeteria, but not much beyond this. While I was content with this arrangement, I knew that I wanted to make some sort of change in adulthood. Therefore, college became a journey of “overcoming” my picky-eating habits.
The Dining and Community Commons became the first stage of this epic conquest. The dining hall has over nine different stations with rotating menus of some of the tastiest options I have ever seen. My food preferences gained some elegance here, as I began looking forward to, and nearly expecting, a lunchtime of steaks, creme brulees, and poke bowls, along with a nightly sushi serving from the Science Center Cafe. Already, this environment was bringing success to my quest! Still, amidst the many available options, I seemed to default to those which were familiar to me. This often resulted in, unfortunately, a beeline straight to the cereal station or the salad bar.
Our “Before” photo of dining hall food (still absolutely scrumptious) & sushi from the Co-op in Swarthmore
Thus, a pivot occurred. One day, as I was eating lunch with my friends from the fencing team, a friend of mine turned to me, my plate of tomatoes, cucumbers, and beets, and my bowl of Lucky Charms, and professed their goal of helping me try new foods. These efforts began over the summer. I worked as an intern for the Swarthmore College Admissions Department over the summer, meaning I lived on campus for the season. I worked from nine AM to four PM with an hour lunch break, then had the rest of the evening to do what I pleased. During lunch, I often either grabbed lunch at Essie Mae’s Cafe in the Dining and Community Commons (my on-campus residency permitted free meals there) or cooked food in my dorm. Then, most nights, I cooked alongside my friends. All of the dorms on campus have kitchens, and Mertz Hall, my summer home, had a kitchen & lounge/dining room arrangement on every floor. My friends and I grocery shopped for the week together (once again, the housing stipend I received from my admissions job covered nearly all of my grocery costs) and rotated kitchen-time. As a dish-washing hater, I played chef most evenings, which ended up being a wonderful experience. I learned how to prepare many new foods, including salmon, pork, onigiri, mac-and cheese, omelets, and thereby expanded my palate greatly.
Breakfast for dinner & a salad that I had been eyeing for most of the summer
Twice a week, some friends from the fencing team (most of whom were on campus doing summer research) and I grabbed off-campus dinner together. We often went to restaurants with shareable plates and ordered for the table, allowing me to try 3-10 new dishes a week. Across many hits and misses, I could find a myriad of new favorites, and, by the summer’s end, had the fortune of trying food from over forty new places. The 109 bus took us straight into Springfield, so we could enjoy some options right next to campus, like Outback, Red Lobster, Shake Shack, and Seoul (Korean hotpot; my favorite restaurant of all time). On weekends and less busy workdays, we took the SEPTA into Philadelphia from the on-campus station and went to cute board game cafes, fancy restaurants, and anything else that sounded good. In August, my co-workers and I also began grabbing dinners together: taking weekly trips to Media, Pennsylvania (which the regional rail also has a direct line to), grabbing boba, and trying different dim sum places together. By the summer’s conclusion, I had easily tried hundreds of new foods–a feat that, in my opinion, denounced me of my former “picky eater status.” (My top five, for curious visitors, were Seoul in Springfield, Dim Sum House By Jane G’s in Rittenhouse Square, Queen & Rook Cafe in Society Hill [for the vibes], CO-OP Restaurant and Bar in University City, and Broad Table Tavern in Swarthmore PA).
Dishes from various locations across Philly and Media
This school year, I have been working to continue my streak: trying new foods from every single restaurant in the town of Swarthmore and beyond while working to be more experimental in the dining hall. Of course, I still love a plate of cucumbers, beets, and tomatoes every now and then, but using my time at Swarthmore to expand my palate has shown me just how many other incredible options there are out there.
