Battle of the Dining Halls Behind-The-Scenes: A Staff Perspective
Follow five team members as they prepared for and executed Columbia Dining’s best event of the year.
On March 25, months of planning and menu testing came to fruition: Columbia Dining’s Battle of the Dining Halls had arrived. Beloved by students, Battle of the Dining Halls is Columbia Dining’s biggest event of the year. Registration filled within one hour of opening, and more than 600 students flooded the Lerner Auditorium to celebrate Columbia Dining’s culinary creativity.
Battle of the Dining Halls is an epic, two-hour food showdown that showcases Columbia Dining’s mastery of good food and good times. Five Columbia Dining Halls – Chef Mike’s Sub Shop, John Jay, JJ’s Place, Ferris Booth Commons, and Faculty House – each create a signature dish based on the event theme. This year: The Breakfast Club. To ensure that all guests can sample the event fare, each team serves both a traditional and vegan version.
Competition is friendly but fierce as each dining hall contends for the coveted Judges Choice champion belt or the People’s Choice trophy. To be crowned victor requires winning the hearts (and stomachs) of not only student attendees, but also Celebrity Chef, author, and TV personality Robert Irvine, who sits on the judges panel with four student council representatives.
"What can you do to make breakfast better? They always manage to do it at Columbia Dining."
This event is the culmination of hours of meticulous planning, sky-high student expectations, and judgement by a world-famous Chef. Dining hall reputations (and a year’s worth of bragging rights) are on the line. How does Columbia Dining execute the event?
Five Columbia Dining team members, each representing a different dining hall and staff perspective, take us behind the scenes to explain.
Meet Mel, JJ’s Place
Previously introduced in our Friendsgiving recap as the Queen of Special Events, Mel is an assistant manager at JJ’s Place. Creative and fun-loving with a smile that warms the room, Mel counts the days until Battle of the Dining Halls. “We are super excited about the event year-round and eagerly anticipate the theme announcement,” she confesses. As a manager, Mel’s contribution to the event reflects the varied skillset that our management team brings to the table. She helps the JJ’s culinary team interpret the theme and brainstorm menu ideas that combine JJ’s strengths with student preferences. She designs the look and feel for the JJ’s tent, and during the event, she oversees staff and helps with food service.
Meet Lucas, Chef Mike's Sub Shop
Columbia Dining student intern Lucas (Columbia College, Class of 2026) has helped the Sub Shop team execute this event for the past two years. Frequently sporting a Columbia Dining bucket hat and a can-do attitude, Lucas dives into research mode as soon as the event theme has been shared with the Sub Shop management team. “I’m thinking about the Battle of the Dining Halls from right after the first meeting about it. I start brainstorming dish ideas and looking at ingredient costs to be able to have some options to present to Chef Don and the team,” he explains.
Meet Chef Tom, John Jay
Chef Tom is well versed in preparing delicious food for large crowds.
As the chef manager at John Jay, his focus for Battle of the Dining Halls is the food. “Once we as a team decide on a dish, then the chefs develop the recipe. Next, we order all the ingredients, and finally we test (and taste!) multiple iterations of the dish until the recipe is perfected,” Chef Tom says. Calm, cool, and collected, and with an impressive mustache, Chef Tom is entering his second Battle of the Dining Halls.
Meet Victor, Ferris Booth Commons
Victor, Head Service Worker at Ferris, is a Columbia Dining staple – he’s been with the team for more than X years. You may recognize him as the artist behind the Ferris Booth Commons dessert case or noticed him grooving around the dining hall during Dominican Independence Day; he brings a passion to everything he does. As a senior team member at Ferris, Victor helps rally the staff around the event. Victor shares, “I tend to be the person that recruits the staff to work the event. I always like to have great people who are positive and hard workers, and who put love and dedication into their work.”
Meet Lilly, Faculty House
With a headful of copper ringlets and seemingly endless energy, Lilly is instantly recognizable to the students. Lilly is a server with the Faculty House team, primarily providing event-day support. She helps to execute the team’s vision for the tent and to serve the hundreds of students who attend Battle of the Dining Halls. For her, engaging with the students and shepherding their enthusiasm is paramount. “The students are always excited about the food, and they love Faculty House” she exclaims.
With only 24 hours until show time, the Dining team is hustling: prepping food, arranging the auditorium, finalizing staffing assignments, and reviewing game plans.
From the team:
Mel: “Beginning the night before, we season and prepare the meat, allowing it to cool, and also pre-set some of the decor and booth setup. This helps ensure we don’t miss any details or compromise on quality on competition day.”
Chef Tom: “Any food that needs prepped or marinated in advance we will work on one or two days before.”
Victor: “I meet with the chefs and managers that will be working the event and we go through the plan; then I take the team that will be working the event and we go over the assignments with the managers. The team then sets equipment in the tent and puts the finishing touches on the decorations.”
Dining halls continue to operate with normal service on event day, which requires the team to balance both event and standard operating duties. Victor is the first to arrive on campus, starting his day at 4 a.m. to prep Ferris for breakfast service. At 9 a.m., several hours earlier than his shift would typically begin as a PM chef manager, Chef Tom arrives. Lilly, next to arrive at 9:30 a.m., starts her day in Faculty House, preparing the seating area and servery for regular lunch service. Mel, who is typically off on Tuesdays, adjusted her schedule to be available for the day’s event. By noon, both she and Lucas are on-site.
The last few hours are a flurry of activity to prepare for opening. Paper goods and serving equipment are loaded into the tents. Teams huddle for a last-minute review of roles and responsibilities. Final touches are delicately added to each tent. In these final moments before event doors open, the teams contemplate the event’s challenges, including those they overcome and those they’ve yet to encounter. From planning requirements to limited execution space and high demand, there’s no shortage of obstacles for the team to tackle.
From the team:
Mel: “The biggest challenge is executing mass production in such a limited space. It gets very busy with all of the excitement, and we want to ensure that every student has a quick but delicious experience with our team.”
Chef Tom: “My biggest challenge is ensuring consistency in the food at such a large scale and tight timeframe, which is why I like to be as hands-on as possible with our team!”
Lucas: “For me, my biggest challenge with this event is making sure any and all ideas I have are reasonable for the time constraints and logistics of the Battle of the Dining Halls.”
Victor: “The biggest challenge for the event for me is having enough food ready before the event starts so that we can dedicate more time to serving students.”
Lilly: “The biggest challenge is keeping up with student demand – they come back for seconds and thirds!”
Students stream into the auditorium, grabbing a t-shirt from their favorite dining hall before sampling the food. Within 30 minutes, the judges are seated on stage, poised to deliver their culinary critiques. Both John Jay and JJ’s steal the show: John Jay is declared the Judges Choice and JJ’s wins People’s Choice.
By 4.p.m., the event is winding down. Winners have been announced, students are clamoring for last-minute selfies with Chef Irvine, and Semisonic’s “It’s Closing Time” echoes throughout the auditorium. With another successful event under their belts, the team reflects on the day’s highlights.
From our team:
Mel: “Personally, I feel like I’m living out my dreams of being on a Food Network show!”
Chef Tom: “I love the creative process of coming up with something new, developing recipes and seeing the dishes come to life, but really the best part for me is seeing the students have a great time. Oh, and winning was great, too!”
Lucas: “I love being able to share this team’s talent and creativity with the University community!”
Victor: “Battle of the Dining Halls is the event that I love the most. I love to give all my energy. I love to see the students happy and positive with a smile from ear to ear.”
Lilly: “My favorite part of the event is showing up with the team and doing what we do best!”
