Healthy Eating Lab replaces Beverage Lab in campus center

University students who once had to trek down Nassau Street to find fresh sushi have a new option closer to home.

Frist's former Beverage Lab, the perennially empty food lounge which sold milkshakes, frozen yogurt and smoothies, has been replaced with a new Healthy Eating Lab that features more wholesome cuisine.

The Healthy Eating Lab will initially offer sushi, grilled chicken, exotic salads, healthy beverages and omega-enhanced "health breads." It also provides menus showing the caloric content of its dishes, pointing out the 212-calorie difference between a Lab-grilled salmon roll and a Big Mac.

The new facility is the brainchild of the University's Task Force on Health and Well-Being, initiated by President Tilghman in 2003 to evaluate University health issues and programs.

The task force's April 2004 progress report called Frist's Beverage Lab an "underutilized resource" and recommended it be turned into an eatery featuring healthy foods as well as cooking classes and demonstrations.

The task force also suggested the site be used to test new recipes for use throughout the PUDS system.

Rob Harbison, the University's executive chef for dining services, oversees the Healthy Eating Lab. Harbison said he had wanted to reform the Beverage Lab for some time.

The Task Force's recommendation gave him the backing he needed, and he teamed up with famous health-food chef Cary Neff to develop a versatile and nutritious menu.

"Conceptually, we wanted to keep the lab theme, because we're going to keep experimenting with our cuisine," Harbison said.

The Lab's chefs have developed almost forty spa salads, of which an alternating six will be offered daily.

The spices on the grilled chicken will change to reflect different regional cuisines, and specialized teas will be developed to suit customer demand.

"If people want to stay up late and want a soothing or relaxing tea for that, we'll be able to mix one," he said.

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The current teas offered — aside from Odwalla, Sobe, and other commercial beverages — are "The Cure," a green tea blend designed to soothe restlessness and fatigue, and "Prickly Pear," a red brew touted for its antidepressant effects.

The Health Food Lab accepts student points, student charge, and cash — but unlike the Beverage Lab, the new eatery does not offer the shakes for which the old one was famous. Students seeking smoothies will have to travel across the hall to Cafe Vivian.

Harbison called student reaction to Frist's new eating option "astronomical."

But not all students are happy with the change.

Sophomores Ben Smolen and Graham Gottlieb, who last year patronized the Beverage Lab daily, were shocked to hear their old hangout had vanished.

At first wary of trying the Lab's new fare, the spread of free samples persuaded Gottlieb to give it a try. He selected a California roll and chewed slowly. "You know," he said finally, "You can't make a smoothie out of it, but it's better than average."