North by Northwestern

All NU dining halls will serve a decadent, modern adaptation of the 1901 Founders’ Day banquet menu for lunch on January 27. Attendees of the 50th anniversary event dined on such treats as roasted quail on toast and bluefish a la creole, but John Ferraro from Sodexo designed a 21st century update for those who aren’t quite as crazy for quail. Friday’s lunch menu includes oyster fritters, tilapia a la creole and orange sherbet, which was served at the 1901 event.

The idea was launched when Janet Olson and Kevin Leonard, employees at University Archives, perused files looking for unique ways to celebrate Founders’ Day, which is on January 28 to celebrate the day in 1851 when the Illinois governor signed the charter to create Northwestern University. Upon finding the menu for the banquet, they showed it to Sodexo employees to replicate it in the dining halls.