UCLA Dining Services seeks student feedback for Feast

Students with a passion for Pan-Asian food can soon give dining officials their critique of Feast at Rieber’s dishes.

UCLA Dining Services is looking for students with knowledge of certain Pan-Asian foods to give feedback on the multiple cuisines available at Feast. Students can apply to be on the committee at the Office of Residential Life website.

Originally formed in 2011, the Feast’s Distinguished Palette Committee was designed to help Dining Services authenticate the different foods they offered. The original committee disbanded in spring 2013, after its original members started moving off the Hill and began committing to other projects, said Mino Bhathena, the general manager of Feast.

Alex Macias, one of the assistant directors of UCLA Dining Services, said Dining Services wants to incorporate student requests and interests to make sure they are hitting the mark at Feast.

To get feedback, Dining Services is looking for students with an expertise in one of eight Pan-Asian cuisines, such as Chinese, Thai and Japanese foods, so they will be able to comment on Feast’s various dishes, Macias said. The students will give notes on foods they have eaten to tell Dining Services what should be changed.

Kei Shao, a first-year biology student, said she thinks the committee is a good way for Dining Services to get feedback.

“I think (Feast) sometimes (has) dishes no one likes, which really is a waste because they go uneaten,” Shao said.

Macias said Dining Services is not looking for students of specific ethnic backgrounds, just those familiar with and passionate about the particular foods.

A person who has been to the country and experienced the food is the ideal candidate, Macias said.

Connor McCranie, a first-year applied mathematics student who frequently dines at Feast, said he thinks Feast will get more popular if students know the quality is continuously improving.

“(The committee) will make it easier for dining to improve because they will get direct feedback from students,” McCranie said.

Shuqin Ouyang, a first-year economics student who goes to Feast every night of the week, said she thinks getting ideas from students will improve the food’s quality and authenticity.

Bhathena said he is looking for students who love traditional foods and thinks that students who sign up on the online application will be honest about their expertise.

Dining services has received about 33 applications for Feast’s Distinguished Palette Committee so far and students can still apply, Bhathena said. The first committee meeting will be on March 5, where students will eat at Feast and give Dining services notes on the various foods they consume.