The Chef’s Kitchen, located on the second floor of the Brodhead Center, began serving a Hawaiian menu starting Jan. 16, and students were excited to try it out.
The Chef’s Kitchen housed the new restaurant It’s Thyme last semester, but will now offer temporary menus and serve as a “pop-up restaurant allowing students to experience a variety of national and international cuisine types throughout the year,” according to an Instagram post by Duke Dining. It will be open for lunch on weekdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
This semester, The Chef’s Kitchen menu is slated to change every six weeks, according to a Duke Dining worker. Now called “A Taste of the Hawaiian Islands,” the current menu aims to be culturally authentic, coupled with Hawaiian music and staff dressed in Hawaiian shirts.
“I’m going to be a regular here, for sure,” senior Austin Shi said. “... It’s amazing, I love it. I just wish they would have sometimes a little bit more fried rice.”
To guarantee the food's authenticity, workers prepare the food at the Brodhead Center instead of ordering it from other locations. According to the Instagram post, the food aims to “celebrate the fusion of tradition and innovation with both savory and sweet options.”
“One of my friends told me it was really good, so I came up here [for] lunchtime,” senior Angela Torrejon said before eating at the new pop-up for the first time.
“Personally, I wasn’t the biggest fan of It’s Thyme,” Shi said. “Once that opened up last semester, I never went to Chef’s Kitchen.”
Students also noted that unlike the first floor of the Brodhead Center at lunchtime, there was no big rush at The Chef’s Kitchen, making the location convenient for students looking to relax for a few minutes in the middle of a busy day.
Now that a new pop-up restaurant has replaced It’s Thyme, Shi appreciates the change of scenery.
“Even though objectively, [Brodhead Center] food is very good, it’s just really repetitive so you start to get sick of it,” he explained.
With the introduction of the Hawaiian menu, Shi plans to dine at the new pop-up more often and recommends the chicken, fried rice and sides. He has already eaten it four times in the past week.
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Samanyu Gangappa is a Trinity first-year and local/national news editor for the news department.