Editor’s Note: How can a dining program that serves tens of thousands of students and staff each day churn out award-winning cuisine that has been recognized by Princeton Review for having the best campus food for seven years in a row? MassLive visited the UMass Amherst campus, interviewed chefs, tasted the food and toured the kitchens to find out how the UMass Dining program became a dining dynasty.
While the campus dining program at UMass Amherst has been ranked No. 1 for seven years running by the Princeton Review — many may be surprised to learn than within its newest dining hall lies a full service restaurant serving up food matching or exceeding the school’s already stellar food credentials.
Located on the third floor of the reconstructed Worcester Dining Commons, The Commonwealth Restaurant offers an “elevated” dining experience in a more intimate and refined space, just one story up from flocks of hungry students traversing the main dining hall below.
Bob Bankert, one of UMass’ executive chefs, oversees the university’s four dining commons, which serve around 50,000 meals daily.
Bankert primarily works in menus and recipe development for the dining halls, but also curates the Commonwealth Restaurant’s seasonally-rotating menu, which changes every couple of months.
He joined UMass in 2014, drawn from Newport, Rhode Island’s high-end restaurants and resorts, thanks to UMass’ growing reputation for its use of quality ingredients, commitment to local and sustainable food purchasing, and incorporation of global cuisines, he said.
One key to UMass holding onto its No. 1 dining status is keeping the campus’ menus “fresh and exciting,” according to Bankert.
This includes empowering dining hall staff — who hail from all corners of the world — to bring their family and cultural recipes into its food fare, as well as looking to incorporate and cater to the home flavors and tastes of students who may come from abroad, Bankert added.
During a visit this fall by MassLive, Bankert prepared a smattering of dishes and specialties available for order.
Small plates included items like the fried garlic and herb cheese curds served with locally grown Brussels sprouts over a highly rich and concentrated tomato confit sauce cooked down with garlic and olive oil into a purée, Bankert said.
Current lunch items include handhelds like a traditional Mexican-style “cemita” sandwich made vegetarian friendly with breaded oyster mushrooms swapped in for the usual chicken milanese.
Bankert then tops the cemita with a spicy guacamole sauce, pickled onions and cilantro and it is served on a brioche bun with melted Oaxaca queso alongside fries.
And for dinner entrées, Bankert prepared its restaurant’s current pan roasted Norwegian salmon, served with its skin crisped over a lemon cauliflower purée with sautéed kale, delicata squash, fried scallions and a cranberry gastrique.
Pan roasted Norwegian salmon at the Commonwealth Restaurant at UMass Amherst’s Worcester Dining Commons.Chris McLaughlin
Bankert said he sees UMass as a “trendsetter” in the food industry, typically being years ahead of the curve and larger trends in sustainability, local produce and plant-based cuisine, with a vision to consistently “set the standard.”
“It’s definitely caught on that we’re here,” said Valerie Maurer, the manager of the Commonwealth Restaurant. “We’re seeing a lot of [UMass] hotel business, a lot of new faces, which excites me tremendously.”
For Maurer, there’s a sense of familiarity with the restaurant’s usual clientele — saying she knows many returning UMass faculty and staff members on a first name basis during the lunch rush — but she hopes to continuously grow its dinner guests.
The crowd can range beyond faculty members to include visiting parents, alumni, community members and even students, particularly on Thursday and Friday afternoons and evenings, the restaurant’s staff said.
UMass Hotel guests looking for full service dining can also take a five minute jaunt to reach the restaurant from their hotel room, she added.
“One of my favorite parts about it is just seeing the excitement on their faces when [guests are] here for the first time,” Maurer said. “They almost act like they don’t believe it. Like when they come in they’re like ‘Oh my God, there really is a restaurant here.’”
Maurer credits the Commonwealth Restaurant’s relocation to the new Worcester with steadily increasing the foot traffic and visibility of the eatery, which was rebranded from “The University Club” at its former home in the oldest building not only on campus, but also in all of Amherst.
Condensed from six dining areas spread across two separate, but adjoined, buildings at the 18th-century-era Stockbridge and Homestead Houses — the Commonwealth Restaurant offers one contiguous setup for up to 46 guests at a time with views out to campus and notable buildings like the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, Maurer noted.
Worcester Dining Commons at UMass Amherst. (Hoang ‘Leon’ Nguyen / The Republican)Leon Nguyen
She added transitioning to the sleek, new environment has resolved several previous challenges posed from working in a centuries-old historic space.
“I feel like it’s kind of more like a quality than quantity thing here,” Maurer said. “It doesn’t have the rustic charm of a 300-year-old building, but has the exquisite, new, clean, modern [feel] of a three year old building.”
Being connected to the larger Worcester Dining Commons allows the restaurant to have more flexibility and resources in terms of its food and drink selections, Maurer noted.
She cited a “lavender lemon martini” the Commonwealth Restaurant ran seasonally last spring, sourcing the ingredients from the nearby UMass food installations.
“I had a gorgeous purple lavender martini on the menu all spring,” Maurer said. “Which maybe I wouldn’t have the ability to purchase all that stuff just for one drink on the menu [before].”
At the bar this fall, Maurer prepares drinks such as the restaurant’s “autumn spritz” mocktail served at lunch, an alcoholic pumpkin spice sangria served at dinner, and a returning seasonal favorite hot malt apple cider with a brown sugar coated rim sourced with fruit grown on UMass’ Cold Spring Orchard in Belchertown.
A fresh glass of seasonal apple cider prepared by manager Valerie Maurer at the Commonwealth Restaurant at UMass Amherst.Chris McLaughlin
Maurer explained that the front of the house is entirely student run, and that thanks to the nature of the restaurant’s clientele, several of these students have found networking opportunities with those who come through the restaurant as well.
The Commonwealth Restaurant is open Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Maurer said while reservations are not required, they are encouraged, and for larger group reservations, they should reach out by email or phone in advance.
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