On Thursday, Nov. 16, Smith College honored the legacy of Julia Child ’34 by bringing her recipes to life in dining halls across campus. This special tradition featured students feasting on an array of delicacies from her cookbooks, recreated by dining hall staff. Specific favorites included coconut macaroons, brie en croutes and chocolate hazelnut croissants.
The Head Chef of Hubbard House, Joe McNeish, gave a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the Julia Child Day preparations.
“We’ve got about 700 desserts. We made 500 tarts and then made about 300 cookies. We’ve got 60 pounds of chicken for the chicken salad,” said McNeish. “We basically wrote a new menu using some of her French recipes.”
McNeish, who has worked as a chef at Smith since 1986, also spoke of his fond memories of Child.
“I fed her her last meal at campus in the 90s when I was here,” he said. “She used to come for commencement. She used to actually make the wines […] She’d show up at all the commencements and she’d do a little cooking class for the alums.”
“She was a great alum. She loved being in the kitchen. She would always come in the kitchen when I was over there. She always wanted to come to the kitchen and hang out. There were a bunch of us working then, and we’re still here now.”
“She was a star. She was a definite star,” McNeish said.
Julia Carolyn Child, born on Aug. 15, 1912, was an American chef, author and television personality. She was renowned for popularizing French cuisine for the American audience through her debut cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” published in 1961, and hosting the long-running PBS television series “The French Chef.”
Just as her mother and aunt had attended Smith College, Julia Child was a proud Smithie who majored in history. She resided in Hubbard House on Green Street, one of the oldest houses on campus.
Hubbard proudly boasts having housed Julia Child during her time at Smith, but its dining hall has been closed since 2020. The kitchen is now being used to prepare pre-packaged meals for the Compass Café at Neilson Library. However, this October, the Hubbard dining hall opened for one day in celebration of the inauguration of President Sarah Willie-LeBreton.
“We decided the day after inauguration [to] do something for Julia Child Day, because, you know, it’s nice — and this was her house,” said McNeish.
Thus, the Hubbard dining hall was opened for one more day for a surprise pop-up lunch. Before Julia Child Day, the website added two items to Hubbard menu.
“They [added] compound butter and roll — like two things,” said McNeish.“I saw the alum page picked up on it because the alums read everything about Smith and they’re all abuzz. What’s happening at Hubbard?”
Many of the current Hubbard residents share this sentiment about the current state of Hubbard’s dining hall.
“I do think it’s kind of ironic that Julia Child lived here but we don’t have a dining hall.” said Isabelle Wang ’27, Hubbard resident. “When it’s open so many people come here, and it’s just nice to see how many people are excited about that.”
Other Hubbard residents have expressed similar opinions, such as Huda Sarhan ’27, who believes the opening would provide more dining hall options.
“I think it should reopen,” she said. “There would be a lot more convenience for those on Green Street, and it could be nice because of the Julia Child legacy.”
