During the field season, daily buffet-style meals are served in Itasca's award-winning dining hall, located on the station lakeshore. This dining hall is a standout feature of our remote field station, offering a level of quality and comfort that’s rare in such settings. It is the heart of our campus where students, researchers, faculty, staff and their families gather to eat, exchange stories of the day, talk science, and unwind. Despite its remote location, our kitchen staff takes pride in sourcing locally grown ingredients, and preparing a variety of healthy and delicious meals throughout the summer field season. Daily meals are served from mid-May through early October.
Dining hall rules & etiquette
The dining hall is a communal space and is a high use area of the station. For the safety and comfort of all those who eat in this space and to keep things running smoothly for our hard-working kitchen staff, we ask everyone to consider the following:
- Meal arrangements must be made at least three weeks in advance of arrival at the station. Contact [email protected] to make meal arrangements.
- Attend all meals you have arranged to take at the dining hall.
- If you have allergies or dietary restrictions, check in with the dining hall staff prior to your first meal. Do not take a special diet meal without confirming with the staff first.
- The dinner bell rings 15 minutes before every meal, and a second bell rings when the buffet line opens. Wait until the second bell to enter the dining area.
- Please respect kitchen staff time by arriving on time for meals, and returning your tray and dishes by the end of the dining hour.
- Please also show respect with your behavior and attire (shirt and shoes are required).
- All children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult through the dining hall buffet line. Children five and under should not touch anything in the buffet line. An adult must dish up for them.
- Only take what you will eat, in order to limit food waste. You can always get seconds.
- Boomerang mugs can leave the dining hall, but need to be brought back. Please return by the end of the day.
Dietary restrictions
Our kitchen staff is trained and experienced to accommodate special dietary needs. We can accommodate vegetarian, vegan, halal, gluten-free, and dairy-free diets and most medically-verifiable food allergies. Our kitchen is not equipped to provide kosher meals. Program planners are responsible for gathering information about participant dietary restrictions using our IBSL Dietary Information Form and communicating this with us via email at [email protected] at least three weeks prior to arrival. Individuals that are not part of a group should request the form directly from us via email to report any dietary requests. The kitchen will attempt to accommodate requests gathered on the form, but it may not be possible to prepare separate options to meet requests for every meal.
Dining Hall meal schedule
Typical meal schedule when the Dining Hall is in operation (see calendar below for live schedule):
Weekday Meals | Weekend Meals | Snacks |
---|---|---|
Breakfast 7-8 a.m. | Brunch 10-11 a.m. | 10-10:30 a.m. |
Lunch 12-1 p.m. | 2-2:30 p.m. | |
Dinner 6-7 p.m. | Dinner 5-6 p.m. |
Dining Hall calendar
