The first in a series of reactions and reflections to Istanbul cuisine collected over spring break on tour with the Yale a cappella group The New Blue.

When I departed for JFK at the start of break, I left behind the remnants of many a late-night take-out order. I had pretty much sampled the full variety of New Haven delivery options in that last week before break — pizza for the history midterm, Indian for the fellowship application, Chinese for the English paper, etc. The diversity in my trash bag (and on my coffee table, I’ll admit it) was a testament to my addiction to campusfoods.com. I thought I had consumed it all. But delivery hummus? After buying several humongous loaves of bread for about a dollar a pop, New Blue returned to the hostile with a hankering for the local condiment. We asked the guy at the desk where the closest market was, but he only hit his cell phone speed dial and told us he would take care of it. Ten minutes later we had four tins of stuff that makes the sandwich bar specialty look like puréed cardboard. Beat that, Dominos.

—Hilary Faxon

Not really digging the New Haven club scene, but want to go out and enjoy a drink with friends at a classy joint? Try Nikkita’s, Kudeta, Bottega Lounge, Fosters, Geronimo’s, and/or Soul de Cuba.

Soul De Cuba:

I was first introduced to Soul de Cuba by a good friend of mine that I met while working on the Ned Lamont Campaign. Her significant other at the time was good friends with the owner(s) of this eclectic restaurant. At first we would just go there after hours and have some impromptu meals and drinks. However, I soon started going to Soul De Cuba on a much more regular basis during their normal business hours; there was something about this Spanish/African atmosphere that kept drawing me to it. Whenever I have friends visiting from out of town, I try to make sure that I take them to this spot at least once and I am constantly referring co-workers, friends, and other Yale students to this place. [Read more →]

While students may have spent their spring break laying out the beach towel, Berkeley Dining Hall management received new orders for layout.Orders came from the Master’s Office to rearrange the Berkeley dining hall, placing the front desk in the center of the room. Students on their way towards the dining hall won’t walk through the entire Berkeley common room before swiping in. The furniture in the common room was also rearranged to create smaller groups. I’ve heard a few logical explanations for the change from bewildered students. Could it be to prevent the sly from sneaking in without swiping? Or is this an effort to eliminate the nightly back up in the line to the dining hall? [Read more →]