Frances York

Editor's note: Colby routinely makes the "best food" lists in college guides. Helping to make that happen is Fran York, who runs the pizza/deli in Dana dining hall. She took a break from prepping pizza toppings to talk to Colby.

So, you've been here a while, I understand
Twenty-eight years. I did do a few years in Foss, and then they brought me back over here.

How has it changed in twenty-eight years, Fran?
First of all, I think with the new dining room--it's only been here three years--it's nice, more modern.

Do people like different kinds of food?
Oh, yes. I make vegan pizzas and things. They just have to come up and request it. If I have the stuff on hand, there's no problem.

What about Colby Eights and other traditional stuff?
We still had that up until this past year.

Is it going to be back this year?
I'm not real sure. I do know there's a lot of changes. We're still going to be on kind of the fast-food type of thing, but there's going to be a lot of changes. Our cycles have been four weeks. It may be a three-week cycle.

So every three weeks the menu changes?
Yeah. We do a lot of specials. Wednesday nights last year we were doing baked potato bar, nacho bar. Fruit bar--the kids love it. We find every type of fruit that we possibly can and we put it out here.

Do you find types of fruit you never knew existed?
Stuff that I had never tried, yeah. Even being here. Papaya. Mangos. The little star fruits.

Are most of the changes aimed at providing healthier food?
They try. They try to say, give kids what they like, like your basic pizza, hamburger-type thing. But also stay on the health side.

But are there items that are mainstays that have been here forever?
That would be like a meatloaf.

They still have meatloaf?
Oh, yes. They still do meatloaf. And they do the roast beefs. Lots of chicken. And kids like it. Even though we're not considered the vegetarian hall, they do make a dish if we do have vegetarians who want to come over and sit with their friends. They have that, too.

So the vegetarian hall is Foss?
Yes.

What is Roberts?
I don't know. Just a home-cooked meal. At lunchtime, we're based on the fast food. At night we give them a home-cooked meal.

So have you gotten to know many students?
Most of my time has been spent back in the kitchen. It's just in the last couple of years that I've actually got out into the front and been able to be one on one with them. There are a few who will introduce themselves and you remember that one and you get in conversations. And they'll say, 'Oh, you don't look happy today. You look tired. Do you want to talk about it?'

Do you ever have students ask for something really strange?
Oh, yes. I had a young lady who asked for no-cheese pizza. She wanted onions and mushrooms and pineapples. No cheese. There were a couple of guys, I remember what they liked. One was a basic mushroom, onion and olive. He loved that.

What's the number-one pizza?
Number one is your pepperoni.

Are there some students who just love to chow down?
Oh, yes. Especially the freshmen. They're here for breakfast, lunch and dinner, no matter what.

What are you working on now, today?
Right now I'm getting ready for the pizza deli. I cut the vegetables to put on my pizza, made my sauce. This morning I made tuna fish. I made egg salad. That's for the deli.

For seven hundred people?
Yup.

What kind of quantities are we talking here?
Okay, let me think. Tuna fish. I will open twelve cans of tuna fish on a normal Monday. That's big cans. I have to have ten pans of turkey, which will probably be three to four turkey breasts. I'm going to say eight to ten pounds each. I do about four of those. And then I do one ham, which is approximately fifteen pounds. Cheeses, I would do probably forty pounds of cheese, four different kinds. Pickles, two different kinds. And all kinds of different breads.

That's every day?
Every day that's what I do.