Terrace Club looks to the future

This future, he explained, is embodied in the extensive transformation of structure and staff Terrace underwent over the summer.

Brady noted that the second floor “green room” now boasts new paint, carpeting, furniture and drapes, as well as a green chandelier. The library he added also has been “refinished to a stately burgundy and gold,” complementing the upscale additions of hardwood flooring, a new 50-inch flat-screen TV and a music practice room featuring a drum set and 1960s Hammond organ.

In an interview with The Daily Princetonian, Brady declined to comment on the total cost of the overhaul, but he said it was “relatively inexpensive” because all of the labor was volunteered by Terrace officers and members.

The idea to renovate Terrace came over the summer when officers were the club’s only occupants, Brady noted. “It was a good chance, while it was not so busy, to get some work done on the building.”

The club also hired a new head chef, Olin Noren, to revamp the club’s cuisine. Noren told club members in an addendum to Brady’s e-mail that he plans to bring seasonal, local and organic food to the club.

Terrace’s previous chef had worked at the club for more than 20 years, but “we decided it was time to part ways,” Brady said, adding that the parting was “amicable.”

Brady noted that Noren’s push to bring in food directly from farms was central to the motivation behind the chef switch.

During the job interview process, Noren said he was informed that many club members were vegetarian or vegan. One of his goals, he said, is to “try to give people a wide selection” of food choices, no matter their dietary restrictions.

Noren, who worked previously as an executive chef teaching and providing meals to at-risk teenagers at an alternative high school in Madison, Wis., said he was looking for a way to move to the East Coast to be closer to family when he saw the club’s advertisement on Craigslist.

He added that his greatest challenge now is trying to identify local sources of produce.

“Where I’m from, I’m used to a well-worked distribution system,” Noren explained. The food market around Princeton is not as centralized, the chef added. “It’s requiring more legwork than I thought it would.”

The recent changes may be symbolic of a less physical transformation, Terrace member Jamie Magagna ’11 noted.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

“Behind the whole renovations aspect is an attempt to change the mindset of Terrace members,” he said. “Previously, it used to be a place to go at three in the morning on Thursday nights.” He said that he hoped the changes would “get people to see Terrace as a place that deserves nice things.”

Both changes at Terrace have gotten positive feedback from members.

“The first thing I did upon getting on campus was to go to the house and look at it,” Terrace member Jasmine Jeffers ’11 said. “The green room looks amazing,” she said, adding that she thought the officers “put a lot of work into it, and it shows.”

Both Jeffers and Magagna said they look favorably upon their new chef.

“He’s very attentive to everyone’s needs and also to social and environmental concerns,” Jeffers said.

Jeffers also noted that the new Terrace “had a huge impact on [her] pride.”

“I heard something [about the renovations], but I didn’t realize the extent until I got to campus and saw how beautiful it was,” she said.