"Our students come from many places across the country and around the world," Cousart said. "They have sophisticated tastes."
So, just as with academics and athletics, she said, Penn works hard to stay competitive.
Penn Dining already offers Seafood Tuesdays and Restaurant Thursdays (with table service in lieu of cafeteria lines and a menu that features lobster and lamb chops).
Now there are two new offerings: a weekly farmers market right on Locust Walk, the school's pedestrian-friendly inner sanctum, and Guest Chef nights, evenings when some of the city's most innovative chefs cook in the campus dining halls.
Matt Babbage, executive chef at the World Cafe Live, took the reins in September, and last week it was Michael Solomonov's turn. The Israeli-born Solomonov is executive chef at Marigold Kitchen, at 45th and Larchwood, which has been a favorite of the Penn community since it opened as the Marigold Tea Room in 1934.
There's no extra charge to students on Guest Chef nights. And at the Wednesday afternoon farmers market, students can use their prepaid Dining Dollars. Like debit cards, Dining Dollar cards are simply swiped on the spot. The cash-starved students love that part.
And who wouldn't love farm-fresh mushrooms, green beans and squash grown in Lancaster County and displayed on a checkered tablecloth, with a real Amish farmer at the cash box? As authentic as it gets.
Ayesha Samant, a freshman from Greenwich, Conn., professed great excitement about the market.
"I'm used to organic stuff and farm stuff at home," Samant said. But a peek in her plastic bag revealed a sticky bun and an apple dumpling.
