Athena Cheris visits the Den to learn more from barista Gavin Bell.
Emma Camp-Oberhauser (E.C.): What’s the question?
Athena Cheris (A.C.): How do you eat on campus?
E.C.: How do I eat on campus? With a fork and knife, usually. Just kidding.
A.C.: Hi, I’m Athena Cheris, assistant Life+Arts editor at the Loyolan, and this is “How To at LMU.” This week, “How to Eat at LMU.” We all have to eat, but in college, everyone knows that food can be repetitive, and sometimes downright nasty. So, I want to add some flavor to your diet. I’m hungry, let’s go eat. Our first stop is Wellness Wednesday. So I’m here with Briana Maturi, who is the founding member, if you will, of Wellness Wednesday. The face behind it all. The creator. Can you tell us a little bit about how you came up with Wellness Wednesday?
Briana Maturi (B.M.): Yeah, absolutely. So, Wellness Wednesday started out of brainstorming around wellness initiatives on campus. So, in the spring to summer of 2019, I started a wellness task force to really consider and think about holistic wellness for our students. During that same time, we had a ASLMU president, vice president candidate team, who one of the things they were running on their platform was wanting to bring a farmer’s market to campus. I always joke with people that I run into people who work at other institutions or even some staff and faculty who come from other institutions and start working at LMU and they’ll say, “Oh, my old school used to do something just like this once a semester” or “my old school used to do something like this once a month.” And I always laugh and I’m like, “Oh, that sounds reasonable, right?” Once a month. Once a semester. But just the way my mind works and what I love about the work that I do is wanting to do my best for the student body and the campus. And so, in my head I was like, “Let’s try to do this once a week,” and here we are.
A.C.: Though I mainly get groceries off-campus or use my LION Dollars at Domino’s, that meal strategy does not work for everyone. Let’s go to Palm Walk to hear what other students eat at LMU.
E.C.: My name? Do the people have to know who this is?
A.C.: Name and major.
E.C.: Ah, all right. My name is Emma Camp-Oberhauser. Do you need to spell that?
A.C.: No, it’s all good.
E.C.: All right. I’m a film prod major. What’s the question?
A.C.: How do you eat on campus?
E.C.: Usually, I go to the Lair. Occasionally, Starbucks or Einstein. I’m a big fan of the Farmer’s Fridge in U-Hall, number one supporter.
A.C.: Oh, I’ve never been there.
E.C.: Dude, I’m on their list to get points, crazy times. Once a week, I get a crêpe from Wellness Wednesday. Occasionally, the C-store when needed. That’s a lot of info.
Alex Russell (A.R.): I’m Alex Russell; I’m a screenwriting major, and I spend a lot of time in the Lair. Just getting global and simply, probably. And then, I spend a lot of time in Starbucks. I spend way too much time in Starbucks just getting sandwiches and coffee. I Grubhub stuff, so I don’t have to wait. And it’s just easy to do that in between classes so those are the two places that I eat.
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Athena Cheris, Life+Arts assistant editor, visits different spots for food on campus.
A.C.: If I had to pick a favorite meal spot on campus, it would have to be the Lion’s Den. The Den is such a special place on campus. They serve drinks and pastries and are entirely student-run. It’s open late, the perfect spot to do homework or chat with friends, and it’s just generally a pleasant and relaxing place to be. I got the inside scoop from Gavin Bell, a sophomore Den barista. What do you think is the importance of having a student-operated cafe on campus?
Gavin Bell (G.B.): Well, I just think… compared to Starbucks… you go into Starbucks and the line is humongous and then nobody who’s there wants to be there. At the Den, we all love it because we all just get to go to work, talk to our friends and make drinks, and it’s so much fun. I love it. Oh my gosh. What was I gonna say?
A.C.: Now, I have to say it really does brighten my face to like go into the Den and get coffee and that’s my number one place to get coffee on campus.
G.B.: No, me too.
A.C.: I’m also curious, I’m also curious. Do you have a favorite drink to make?
G.B.: My favorite drink to make? I really like the shaken espresso. We have a lot of, “Basically I love making shaken espresso because I get to pretend I’m a bartender, and I get to shake the shaker cup over my shoulder and pretend I’m… making fancy cocktails when really I’m just making shaken espresso.” So, I love making shaken espresso.
A.C.: Well, I like ordering them I have to say.
G.B.: Oh my gosh.
A.C.: That and then the iced coffee.
G.B.: Oh, the iced coffee is so good.
A.C.: Simple and quick.
G.B: I know. Iced coffee—I think—is the objectively best coffee in the Den. If you’re drinking coffee, like it’s way better than our espresso.
A.C.: Yeah, I have to agree with that. And then do you have a favorite pastry from the den or one that you’d recommend people get?
G.B.: Oh my gosh. My favorite pastry is the pretzel croissant with cream cheese. I think when you put the cream cheese on the pretzel croissant, it elevates the experience. It’s so good.
A.C.: From Wellness Wednesday to the Den, there are a surprising number of food options on campus, even though it can seem like a small landscape, there’s always a place to chill, eat and maybe even get groceries. I hope you enjoyed this episode of “How To at LMU,” and tune in next time to find out how to do something new. This episode of “How to at LMU” was hosted by Athena Cheris, Assistant Life+Arts Editor, and produced by Coleman Standifer, audio coordinator. Feedback about this episode can be submitted to [email protected]