I told my parents I wanted to be a Falcon after I came to visit campus in July. When they asked me why, I said, “The dining hall. For some reason, it reminds me of Harry Potter, and the lake is pretty. Maybe they have a Giant Squid, too.” If I have to be completely honest, my jaw dropped only once during my tour and that was when I saw the place where we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner.
There is no doubt that Peddie Food Service, commonly known as PFS, works arduously to provide high-quality food and treats for students and staff on a regular basis. I personally look forward to reading through the spreadsheet that Head Chef Jeremy Stahl sends out every week and excitedly pick out which meal I want to try out next.
My favorite part about PFS has to be their consideration of food requests and the lengths they go to to have it appear on the menu. For instance, I was missing my friends and family during my first month at Peddie and wanted a comfort meal to bring me back home. I emailed Mr. Stahl and asked if he could make paneer butter masala with garlic naan, and he didn’t hesitate to start planning. Not even two weeks later, I saw it on the menu and couldn’t believe the line for the Blue Plate food that day. All of my friends (and myself) thought it was delicious, and even though we were stuffed, we went for seconds. But Mr. Stahl’s words are what left me feeling full and complete: “So glad you enjoyed it! It was so fun for us, and the response was amazing. We never thought we would go through that much the first time serving it. We have the ability to make it again and will probably run it again towards the end of October. Please keep sending requests. You are 1 for 1. Thank you so much for the kind words because nights like yesterday are what we live for! “ Sure enough, I saw it out in the dining hall later that month, and it was still a hit.
I can’t forget the food during the Mid-Autumn Festival because it was a unique opportunity for everyone to try out new cuisine and learn about a rich culture. I also learned that I loved bao buns! But that’s enough on my part. Here are some wonderful responses from students about the food and the service!
Alex Baek-Nadell ’25: My favorite PFS meal is definitely the steamed pork buns. They don’t serve them too often, but they’re really good. A good memory with PFS was this [one late-night] dinner. I had a pretty late wrestling practice and got to the dining hall at 6:55, right before they closed. So the PFS workers gave all the late wrestlers a ton of food on each plate even though we showed up right before they closed, and [they] were super sympathetic with how hungry we were.”
I’d like to add that when I was on the JV Field Hockey team this fall, PFS time and time again kept the dining hall open well after it was supposed to, to serve all of the players and did it with big smiles on their faces. We apologized for keeping them there, but they responded by serving us with even more food and reassuring comments.
Shea McGlynn ’26: “My favorite day is definitely inner child day because it’s the one day of the year that I definitely make sure to never miss at the dining hall. I’m able to talk with my friends during it, and I can eat my favorite food at the same time. I really enjoy the grilled cheese, the ice cream, and all that. It’s just so good to be able to eat with my friends.”
Sora Oh ‘25: Halloween slaps because they put in so much effort and had the lighting/colors. [GASPS] The Chinese food during the Mid-Autumn Festival was also really good. I like the walking taco. I like tacos in general.
Halloween was also one of my favorite days because it was so spirited, and the food was well thought out and creative.
Kate Kim ‘24: I really enjoyed the food during last week’s International Food Week, especially the food from the African-American culture. I also liked tasting the new Nigerian food PFS tried out.
Emily Kang ‘24: My favorite meal is Shepherd’s Pie, and having it with gravy and hot sauce. Chef Stahl was also talking in the AP Environmental classes today, and he said they were going to try out a lot of new things these days.
Carolina Lopez-Watt ‘25: “The chicken cheddar wraps bring a lot of excitement, and I think people are really enthusiastic. Actually, chicken nugget days might be the best because chicken nugget days usually mean there’s a lot of juicy tea.”
Kohana Brown ‘25: My favorite PFS meal is probably chicken cheddar wraps, and my favorite PFS memory is probably growing up here as a faculty kid. Usually, over the summers, I would still eat in the dining hall because there were summer camps and summer school, so just having it available to me always made it really fun.
Here’s a picture I took of Koko smiling through the pain and eating (more like scraping off all the skin) a spicy chicken sandwich. I know that nearly every other person I looked at was either in tears, had runny noses, was carrying three cups of water, or had abandoned their meal, BUT! But. I thought it was really tasty despite not being able to breathe after eating it.
Sarah Drake ‘25 enthusiastically explained her favorite foods: “I like breakfast for dinner. That’s the best one. Burger night is also really good, but for lunch, the chicken cheddar wraps! Those are the best. The other option is chicken caesar wraps.”
Molly Olds ‘25: “I like beach day. It has funnel cake, ice cream and a whole dessert table.”
PFS has cool desserts and always introduces cuisines that I’ve never heard of. This one time, my friend Irina Tkebuchava ‘25 requested Khachapuri from the Republic of Georgia, and they made it the week after for breakfast. It’s delicious, and everyone should try it when they can.
Anay Mehta ‘25 didn’t have a favorite meal, but he had something else to share: “My favorite PFS memory is just eating, talking, and hanging out with my friends at the table.”
Juah Lee ‘25: “I really like the chicken nuggets, and the most underrated thing, in my opinion, is the chicken cordon bleu.”
If you’ve been keeping up with the Daily Dose, they recently ranked the four best desserts that PFS makes.
If I could add a dessert here, it’s hands down the mango cheesecake they served during one of the Family Styles dinners. It was sooo good, and I was tempted to ask for a second one.
According to a general survey sent out to the school, out of 41 respondents, the most frequent responses included: soul food, Inner Child Day, Halloween, the Mid-Autumn Festival, chicken tenders/parm/thighs, poke bowls, mac and cheese and Beach Day.
In short, I believe these responses elicit a well-deserved thank you to the Peddie Food Service staff from us all. I don’t know about everyone else, but I always make sure to emphasize the unfaltering kindness and adept abilities of PFS whenever I give a tour. The next time you’re in the dining hall and receive a warm smile from one of the personnel, please be sure to thank them and clean up your tables. Show your appreciation.
Photos by Head Chef Jeremy Stahl and Sree Lakkamraju ’25.
