Longwood students didn't spend
this past Valentine's Day by themselves.
On Tuesday, Feb. 14, Longwood
Dining Services opened up
the Tea Room of Dorrill Dining Hall
(D-Hall) to students, faculty and
staff alike to enjoy great food, great
service and a great way to celebrate
a holiday that many often avoid.
Available only through reservations
made before Feb. 9, the event
was reserved for parties of two
or four guests who could pay the
$18.95 price of admission through
bonus dollars, Lancer CA$H, Visa,
MasterCard, cash or check.
The dishes offered at the dinner
included various options for each
course.
For appetizers, students were offered
either shrimp bisque or tomato
mozzarella napoleon with balsamic
glaze.
For entrée, students were offered
either lobster ravioli with crème
rosa sauce finished with jumbo
lump crab and broccollini or marinated
grilled filet mignon accompanied
with smoked roma tomato,
shallot and feta ragout, blue cheese
mashed potatoes and haricot verts.
For dessert, students were offered
either coconut vanilla panna cotta
with raspberry sauce or flourless
chocolate truffle cake.
Students were offered tea, water,
coffee and a complimentary glass of
wine or sparkling water, while additional
beverages were available
for purchase.
More than the food, the atmosphere
of the Valentine's Day Dinner
ensured an intimate enough setting
for one to forget he or she was
in D-Hall. A dinner to remember,
the event was capable of being enjoyed
by anyone, whether in a relationship
or not.
Director of Dining Services Grant
Avent commented that he commonly
hears requests for restaurant
style service from students, faculty
and staff. "There's, as you know, a
limited number of good restaurants
in Farmville and places to go to get
a really good meal, and so I've had
people ask would we do something
like that."
Avent commented on how the
turnout for this year's Valentine's
Day dinner was more of a success,
especially with students, this year,
saying, "We only had 20 people last
year, and this year, we had 78."
Assistant Director for Operational
Excellence Brenda Ferguson believed
the increase in the student
population attending the event was
due to not only an increase in advertisement,
but also the opportunity
for students to pay for their meal by
Lancer CA$H or Bonus Dollars.
"This year we were very pleased
with the number of students who
wanted to be there," said Ferguson.
Junior Ceceli Bautista, Senior Alicia
White, Junior Katie Chires and
Junior Leighann Swofford attended
the event as a girl's night out.
"I feel very positive about this experience,"
said Bautista.
White happily commented that
the quality to the event "was very
surprising."
Bautista agreed, saying, "It was
really surprising how well it was
put together. It was very fancy, very
classy."
Describing the service of waiters
and waitresses present, Bautista
said, "She was always checking on
us, making sure we had everything
we needed."
Describing the food, White said it
was, "Mouthwatering."
"It's not D-Hall," joked Chires.
Avent expressed interest in further
restaurant style dinners by Longwood
Dining Services, saying, "It's
different from what we do every
day, and I think that if we did more
that we would get better at it."
Ferguson said, "I think what the
challenge is is that it's something
different from what we always do.
We don't serve restaurant style service
every day."
There were some difficulties on
the day of the event due to the location
of the dinner being located in
in the lower floor of Dorrill Dining
Hall while the equipment needed
to cook the food was in the upper
level.
"It was a good, positive learning
experience," said Ferguson.
White commented about the motivation
she and her group of friends
attended the event with, saying,
"We decided we would treat ourselves
out to something fun. All the
couples are going to do stuff. Why
can't we go do something fun?"
Ferguson said, "I think that Valentine's
Day is a day where you have
an opportunity to stop and reflect
on friendships that you have and
whatever those friendships may
be … So, we wanted to give an opportunity
for people to have somewhere
to go special to celebrate that
friendship."