Who’s down to learn about some gates?! After another brief hiatus, Ra Ra Brunonia is back and better than ever (yes, I have said this before!)! As a member of the Ivy League, Brown is forced to conform to a strict gate policy: in order to proceed onto a grass-covered quadrangle, a student must walk through/beneath a gate. This policy is strictly enforced, as evidenced by this…and this…and this.

Let me just establish this up front: Brown loves gates. We walk through the Van Wickle Gates during our first week on campus, we run through the John Nicholas Brown gate when late to our American Legal and Constitutional History lecture, we even have an eatery explicitly named The Gate. Gates are to Brown as Gail is to the Ratty; you absolutely cannot separate the two.

We begin with the most regal of gates at Brown—The Van Wickle Gates. Located at the top of College Street, the Van Wickle Gate has been a staple of the Brown campus since 1901. Named after Augustus Stout Van Wickle, who was incidentally killed in a skeet shooting accident (Ed.-seriously?), the Van Wickle Gates are only fully opened twice a year: towards campus during Convocation and towards downtown Providence during Commencement. It is traditional that seniors doff their caps as the pass beneath the Van Wickle Gates after graduation. As a side note, Augustus Stout Van Wickle also donated a fence and gate to Princeton University—the man truly loved gates.  [Read more →]

Something special is landing in the Ivy Room tonight. Because Aaron Fitzsenry “felt like Ivy Nights needed a little love in the Fried Rice department,” he decided to “make it a party.” You ready for this?

Existing items at the Fried Rice bar include: Peppers, carrots, tofu, egg.

New items to expect: Pineapple, green peas, mushroom, broccoli, sprouts, water chestnuts, baby corn.

Finishing sauces include: Sriracha, sesame Mirin sauce, sweet chili, wasabi/ginger, hoisin.

In other Brown Dining news, The Gate is going to see a “Gnocchi Gnight” sometime soon. Additionally, many of you may have noticed that Jo’s has started off the semester with a risotto bar. Design your own version—whether you add roasted red pepper coulis, basil pesto olive oil, or just have it straight up, it’s bound to be delicious. Follow-up specials will be loaded waffle fries and the crepe bar. Get excited, I know I am.

Eastside Marketplace too far? Your pantry emptying at an exponentially quick rate thanks to our friend Sandy? Don’t worry—our friends at dining services have notified us of a few on campus eatery re-openings for today:

Jo’s and the Gate will be opening for their normal hours tonight (6 p.m.–2 a.m,).

Poppy’s, located in the Nelson Fitness Center, will be open at 10 a.m.

The Campus Market will be open at 2 p.m. today.

We all know Sandy Cohen would approve that we’re back on our eating game—he’d hate for you to miss that bagel and schmear. That is if you think you can brave the sun storm…

(Gate risotto probably won't come on such a fancy plate...)

Culinary Manager Aaron Fitzsenry is serving up fresh risotto at the Gate tonight! Get it while it lasts…

Image via.

Get your alternative folk on with a slice of pizza and a Chobani. Play Edward Sharpe!

Yes, there will be accordion.

Andy Suzuki ’09 and his band, The Method, are playing a “secret show” at the Gate. It’s completely free and happening right now (it began at 7:30). C’mon, take a study break. You know you want to.

Photo by Emily Gilbert / Herald

Are you following the Gate and the Blue Room on Twitter? You get to learn all sorts of crazy VIP information like new Gate hours and the number of muffins left at the Blue Room (earlier today there were a “bajillion!”).

So, yeah, weekend brunch at the Gate. Though this may only be relevant to a) the students who live on Pembroke and b) those of us who actually wake up before two on the weekends.

If you’ve been missing your paninis and that “free” pizza your parents already paid for, then you’ll certainly be excited for today’s reopening of The Gate.

Back in 1947, when The Gate first opened, Pembroke students were excited, too. Unlike the Blue Room, which they could only enter when accompanied by a male escort,  The Gate provided a place for the females of College Hill to lunch freely.  Brown men were allowed in, too, but only if accompanied by a Pembroke student, according to the Encyclopedia Brunoniana.

And there were actually gates! White picket fences, which you can make out in the background of this picture. According an Evening Bulletin article describing the new eatery, The Gate also featured “many cozy nooks with leather-upholstered wicker furniture in lime, yellow and deep green.” Way too charming.

After the jump, a picture of the 1947 snack bar with era-appropriate glass bottles of soda, as well as pricing from the 1979 Gate menu. [Read more →]

The Gate will re-open this Friday after being closed since Feb. 5 due to a broken steam pipe, according to Gate Unit Manager Kara Segal ’10. See tomorrow’s Herald for the full story.