University of Maryland starts Chef’s Features, sees participation increase

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Dining Services introduced 40 new dishes this semester, following an increase in Chef’s Feature sales over the past couple of years.

Meals ranging from guava pork sliders with sesame ginger Asian slaw and sweet potato fries to cheddar corn bread-crusted wild blue catfish with basmati rice are now on rotation at the campus dining halls.

Sales of the Chef’s Feature dishes, commonly known as value meals, have doubled in the past two years, Dining Services spokesman Bart Hipple said.

Dining Services Senior Executive Chef John Gray attributed the spike in Chef’s Feature purchases to the summer 2013 switch to all fresh vegetables — with the exception of corn, which is difficult to procure out of season. To preserve freshness, chefs prepare the food throughout the day according to demand, rather than cooking it all at once and storing it.

Combined, the South Campus and North Campus dining halls serve about 1,000 Chef’s Feature meals per night, Gray said.