“A cold drip dark roast with farm fresh milk and 2 equals for sweetness.”

These days, people are Instagramming their food almost as often as they are, well, eating it. I dare you to go out to any kind of restaurant, be it Al Forno or East Side Pockets, and not see at least one person pull out his/her smart phone during the meal to snap a pic of whatever food is on his/her plate. You might overhear such exclamations as, “Oh my god, this grilled chicken looks so much better in black and white,” or even, “Dude, just look how dank this burrito looks through the Toaster filter. SO DANK!”

Though food Instagrams have the potential to take a disastrous turn for the worst, two Brown students are hoping to provide us with some original nom-worthy shots… and some comedy, too. Rattygram is the newest Instagram brainchild of two Brown sophomores who snap pics under the pseudonyms of Alfred and Harrison. A feed of “semi-daily delicacies hand-picked by Harrison and Afred,” Rattygram is a depository of gastronomic images that showcases these two roomies’ escapades at the Ratty, and of course, at CFF, during which they gain some edible and artistic inspiration. I decided to sit down with them to better understand the origins of Rattygram. Learn what gets this pair’s culinary juices flowing after the jump.

[Read more →]

As a freshman, the meal plans at Brown can be confusing. Like, really confusing. In the words of wisdom from my senior friend: “Get the Flex460 plan. I could explain it, but I won’t. Just do it.” Though I feel like I have come a long way since my pre-frosh days—I finally know how to stumble back to my dorm on Wednesday nights make it to my classes on time—I, for the life of me, cannot comprehend the multivariable calculus that is the meal plan system.

When I’m coming home in the wee hours of the morning (1 a.m.) and am looking for some pizza from the Gate, I can hardly tell the difference between left and right, let alone credit and points. After starving from studying all day in the Rock, how are you supposed to make a calculated decision about the best meal option? Screw it—say what comes to mind first, and hope for the best.

Once you overcome the first obstacle (or come to terms with never understanding the system), you will realize that you are just embarking on a journey full of choices. What type of food do you really want? You can go to the Ratty, V-Dub (can someone please confirm it’s going to start opening on weekends?!), the Gate, Jo’s, and many others. The possibilities truly are endless (like the lines in the Ratty). Be wary though, each location has different hours of operation and payment methods. Word of advice to fellow frosh: Check out the Brown Dining Services website, Brown Menu, or our sidebar (on left) for details. They’re a godsend.

But for those of you who are too lazy too busy to click on that extra link, fret not, for­­ I have compiled a list of my go to quick and easy ways to most effectively use your meal credits around campus: [Read more →]

There is no doubt anymore that the year is more than well underway. Shopping period is officially over, work is starting to become unignorable, and midterms are on the horizon. With this increasing demand for my productive attention, it’s natural that my mind finds more time to drift to non-academic matters, namely, my grumbling stomach.

It’s in this realm of thought that I recently discovered the unique position I’m in this year, that being what I like to call “Meal Plan Limbo.” My personal definition of this condition is as follows: “The state of being actively enrolled in an annual Brown University meal plan while simultaneously having access to a personal kitchen. Often associated with distaste for university dining options as well as irritation caused by a lack of sufficient time or supplies to cook every meal. See: culinary confusion, gastronomic frustration.”

While this circumstance may cause the occasional bout of anxiety, it has also effectively gotten my culinary juices flowing. With limited access to groceries, four roommates, and food that disappears in a half a second, I’ve been forced to get pretty crafty in my snack and meal choices. Here are some of the desperate, unusual, but delicious—I promise—combinations that my roommates and I have devised in the past few days. Whether they’re enjoyed at 2 p.m. or 2 a.m. is up to you—it’s all about how adventurous you’re feeling with your taste buds. Check them out after the jump. [Read more →]

Should I barrel ahead to the Bistro or take my chances on Roots and Shoots? Should I save room for dessert? To POG or not to POG? These are important questions that credit-packing Brown students ponder every day. We try to manage the overwhelming Ratty experience by formulating a plan of attack; any experienced diner will have his/her route mapped before he/she is ushered with a “Hiiiiiiiii” into the rabbit hole. But despite our best efforts, these plans rarely go off without a hitch. There is always some unknown quantity that trips us up as we strive for that unattainable dream: the perfectly efficient Ratty experience.

Today at BlogDH, we are proud to bring you one step closer to the green light. Your days of searching and waiting in line for the one semi-functional lukewarm water dispenser are over. Under the Hi-C label on two of the Ratty’s drink fountains is a small lever that releases gloriously frigid water when pressed. The concept isn’t foreign, but even the most experienced Brown diners seem to ignore our fountains’ inconspicuous godsend. Apparently, some privy BDS employees are offended by its underuse, because they’ve been showing students the way of the tab more and more recently. One employee even told us that the water in there is even better-filtered than the tepid stuff of its dysfunctional counterpart. If the tab wasn’t a game changer already, he closed the case. Keep fighting the good fight, Brown diners.

I never thought I’d end up as one of them. The Bag People. They stuff apples into their bags, hoard take-out boxes and run past Gail with distinctly shifty demeanors. I mean, sometimes I dress like a bag lady, but I don’t actually want to be one.

That all changed one fine day in the Ratty. I saw one of my best friends frantically spooning tomato sauce into a water bottle in the Tastes of the World section (which, in Ratty-speak, signifies a loose interpretation of Italian food).  Oh god, she’s finally lost it, I thought. We all saw this one coming.

But no. She was using it for pizza sauce. Free pizza sauce. FREE!  My dignity surrendered to my inner cheapskate, and with my friend’s Obi-Wan-like guidance, I have become a well-seasoned Ratty kleptomaniac. And if you want to be further enlightened, I offer you helpful vegan nuggets of Ratty wisdom after the jump, inspired by very my own Ratty kleptomania.

[Read more →]

The Beast

Staff writer Jason Hu decided to try the Ratty Challenge last Saturday for science and shitsandgiggles. To read the first half of his journey of self-discovery/self-loathing, click here. 

3:30 – 4:30: Everything is sticky

I feel gross. After too much time in the Ratty, or any dining hall, you are covered with a thin layer of sticky. Grease? Aerosolized onion rings? The accumulated BO of a few hundred college students? Who knows? Either way, I feel like the Ratty tables. I never thought I’d learn how to empathize with a piece of furniture.

I went outside and it smelled funny: I couldn’t tell whether it was because I was smelling fresh air or because it smelled funny.

It’s like being at the CIT too long.

Either way, I’m going to go start homework. Eventually. Maybe.

Things overheard: “Sober at the Ratty buh, buh, buhbuhbuh.”
One conversation which went through cafeteria Judaism, reasons for vegetarianism, and Chinese imperial history.
“I didn’t know they had cities in Africa!”
“Would you rather give up all cheese or oral sex for the rest of your life?”
“Lana del Rey might be a drag queen.”
CS22 Problems finished: 2.5
Orgo progress: 0 percent
Food quality: 8/10 (Eggplant Parmesan and Black Bean Patties? Yes please!)
Cumulative bathroom breaks: 3
Duration I’ve had “We Are Young” by Fun stuck in my head: 27 minutes [Read more →]

It’s time for the challenge.

No, not the cinnamon challenge, or the saltine cracker one, or even the SciLi challenge. Trust me: Those posts would end poorly for everyone (mainly for me, who would be moaning “oh god, the humanity” while rolling on the floor).

It’s time for the Ratty Challenge: spending all day in the lovely Sharpe Refractory with nothing but me, my homework, and lots of creeping people-watching to pass the time. What will I learn? Life lessons? Organic chemistry? The secret recipe for those black bean patties?

Probably none of the above. Oh well, at the very least I’ll steal a bunch of fruit.

7:30 – 8:30: Overslept

So … I’m off to a good start. Groggily hitting the alarm on my phone, rolling out of bed, —what is this, a class? Touché, Ratty. Touché.

All points considered, though, I think I’m doing pretty well for a weekend. I don’t see you waking up early on your Saturday morning for the sake of dicking around journalism.

Ratty: 1 Jason: 0
Homework completed: 0 percent

8:30 – 9:30: Breakfast alone

There’s nothing wrong with eating alone, but of all the meals, I think breakfast is the most socially acceptable meal to eat alone.  If you’re sitting by yourself with a bowl of Cocoa Puffs (I see you, guy in sweats and using chocolate milk as milk) and stare pensively off into the distance, people assume you’re planning about conquering the day and thinking big life questions like “Who am I?” and “Why isn’t the Blue Room blue?”

They totally don’t know you’re pondering what kind of cats you want when you grow up.

Completely unrelated though, that cute guy who always serves you a sandwich in the Blue Room walked in. Be chill Jason, ‘cause breakfast at 9:15 is totally an appropriate time to try and pick up guys.

Battery left: 80 percent
Homework completed: 0 percent
Time spent online: 32 minutes (15 minutes tumblr) [Read more →]

In response to our and others’ criticisms of Brown Menu last fall, the site’s owners have implemented a complete revamp. It now looks sleeker and, more importantly, lets you to sign up to receive text and/or email notifications when BuDS is serving your favorite items. Just register for the site and start favorite-ing menu options by clicking the mouse-over heart icon that appears next to each item. The site also now has a tight favicon.

With God as my witness, I will never again miss another Gnocchi alla Sorentina dinner. In this blogger’s eyes, BrownMenu.com has officially moved up from FlogDailyHerald to (Campus)Lifehacker status.

Is the Ratty rolling out the big guns tonight in response to today’s presidential announcement? (Or is the opposite true?!) This all seems a little too coincidental.

In case you don’t know what canapés are.

Last year on St. Patrick's Day, the Ratty had decorate-your-own cupcakes.

It looks like the Ratty is having a Valentine’s Day special, as the desert listed for today’s lunch is “Decorate Cupcakes and Cookies.” Yum!

Image via.