8:33 a.m., Aug. 30, 2010----When it comes to comfort cuisine, few dishes can top macaroni and cheese as the king of casseroles and perennial favorite of young people everywhere. Now, with the creation of Le Mac, student diners at the University of Delaware can continue to enjoy this American classic with a 21st century look and flavor.

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Compliments of UD Dining Services, Le Mac has moved the venerable entrée out of the large serving tray and into individually prepared dishes garnished with a wide variety of popular toppings.

Not only is Le Mac pleasing to the palates of residential diners on the UD campus, it also has been named the Best Station Concept by Food Management Magazine as part of its 2010 “Best Concept” Awards Competition. The annual program recognizes exceptional achievement and innovation in key areas of noncommercial food service, as judged by the magazine's editorial staff.

“It [Le Mac] was a simple idea,” the magazine noted. “Take one of the most popular comfort foods on any college campus and build an entire [serving] station's menu around variations of it. Working with UD staff, ARAMARK developed Le Mac, a station that offers 10 wide-ranging variations of mac and cheese.”

The editors also saw Le Mac as “a good example of a contract company developing a client-specific station concept that could easily be migrated to many other campus environments.”

“Every kid is brought up on macaroni and cheese,” said Todd Seger, ARAMARK Residential Executive Chef. “What we did was take a typical pasta -- like elbow macaroni -- and added a little flair.”

Le Mac will be featured twice weekly during the fall semester with menu options to include:

• Classic, with pepper jack, cheddar and Monterey jack cheeses;
• Primavera, with spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes and fontina cheese;
• Buffalo Chicken, with grilled chicken, bleu cheese and Frank's hot sauce;
• Poor Man's Mac, with tuna and cheddar cheese; and
• Stuffed Mushroom, with onion, spinach red pepper and fontina cheese.

Dining Services began testing Le Mac menu options at the start of the 2010 spring semester and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Le Mac is part of the campus-wide “Elevate the Plate” campaign around the residential dining experience at UD that will debut during the fall semester with a focus on freshly prepared foods.

Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photos by Ambre Alexander