Dawes Dining hall is known for two things: Being Smith’s gluten-free dining hall and having higher quality food. Dawes was created in 2014 as a result of six Smith students with celiac disease (Smith College Celiac Allies) who lobbied for a separate space where they could eat without cross-contamination. For these students it was necessary to avoid serious illness. Dawes is also the first dedicated gluten-free college dining hall in the nation.
The first year of operation, Dawes fed 16 students, including students who were not celiac, but needed a gluten-free diet. They ate in the small back room which is now the stockroom. According to chef Scott Rubeck, out of the current 100 students approved by ODS, currently about 50 or 60 students actively come to Dawes to eat at each meal during the semester. On macaroni and cheese night or breakfast night, however, the kitchen knows to expect more than the usual 50 or 60 students. On the last pizza night at Dawes, a total of 48 flat-bread pizzas were cooked. If going by the active number of students, that is almost one pizza per person. It is relatively easy to get approval to eat at Dawes and there are quiet whispers on campus on how to eat there if you really want to.
If too many people eat at Dawes though, there might not be enough for the students who actually depend on it. Mia Hwang ‘24 says she eats there due to “an autoimmune condition that gets triggered by gluten.” Hwang explained, “Dawes saves me the stress of looking for food that won’t exacerbate my condition.” Dawes is not a traditional kitchen because they need to be conscious of 36 allergens in total, labeling these on all of the food put out for each meal. There is no walk-in refrigerator and the food is prepared much like a restaurant, in batches. On a kitchen tour, Rubeck showed how creative they need to be with their small space, consisting of a four burner stove top and a small oven and steamer that only fit half-sized trays. Rubeck states that currently in their small kitchen space, “production is at our max.” There are four full-time chefs who are all allergen-trained, creating and serving simplified healthy menus in order to meet the needs of the students. While they do accommodate three to four students who have additional dietary needs, they are a gluten-free dining hall, not a made-to-order dining hall. When asked about the rumored fake doctors notes Rubeck said that while there were very few celiacs coming to Dawes, a lot of the students do suffer from gluten-intolerance. “Although, one night I came out here and there were two students and they said ‘Yeah, why don’t we go to Tyler. I heard they have pasta!’ I mean pasta! So, yeah, maybe there are a few fake doctors notes out there.” Gerry Dupree, is a chef that used to work at Dawes, but now works at the King-Scales dining room. Dupree mentioned that a lot of students would bring guests to have dinner with them at Dawes, students that she knew were not gluten-free.
While the staff at Dawes welcomes all who come to eat with them, there is only so much room and so much food prepared for each meal. If Dawes becomes too inundated with students who don’t need it, Rubeck worries the quality of their food might go down and the people who do need it will suffer. He said that “Dawes is here for a reason and it’s not just another option, for people who come to Dawes, it’s their only option.”
