By Tim Fetter, Executive Chef at Duquesne University

Starting with this academic year, Parkhurst Dining was proud to begin service to the campus and community of Duquesne University in the heart of our service region in Pittsburgh, PA. I was given the nod to take the job of Executive Chef for the campus, which consists of numerous areas and types of service. They include a recently renovated board plan dining hall, two retail food courts, a staff and faculty dining room, a Starbucks, two Coffee Tree Roasters locations, two convenience stores, a bar and a grill redringrestaurant.com, a Freshens hand-crafted Crepe and Frozen Yogurt location, a food truck, concessions and catering which consists of 40 weddings per year on top of the normal catering functions.

We took over the kitchens at the beginning of August and were quickly asked to cater an event for the 2013 Convocation, which was the first large gathering of the Campus faculty and staff since our arrival. When asked about what type of special reception we could host, we thought what better way to introduce ourselves than with a FarmSource event featuring our purveyors of local foods.

The menu we came up with included a pasta station featuring Burco shaped pasta from Fede pasta, great artisan pasta made in North Huntington, PA.  The next station was our take on a Strip District market, which featured local cheeses, breads, and cured meats, all cut to order in front of our guests. The carving station included a house-made Porchetta, which is a roulade made from a local pork belly stuffed with sausage and pork tenderloins from Penn’s Corner Farm Alliance.  We passed miniature desserts, which featured local apples and honey. Lastly, we made sure the bar was stocked with local craft beers from Penn Brewery, Church Brew Works, Full Pint Brewing and Duquesne Brewing Company.

Here’s the menu:

The event was a huge success and really showcased our dedication to serving locally sourced and high quality ingredients that are then transformed into tasty dishes in our kitchen.

As we grow more familiar with the campus, we will continue to incorporate sustainable practices, and we look forward to next spring when we hope to start some on site growing in the form of an herb and possibly vegetable garden.