Let them cook!

Allison Dining Hall has a reputation for being one of the better food options on campus, at least according to past polls from The Daily Northwestern. However, two 1835 Hinman residents cut ties with the South Campus staple after a string of lackluster culinary experiences. 

One morning, just a few weeks into the school year, Weinberg first-year Adam Wang and Bienen-McCormick first-year Nathan McGough bit into what they thought would be simple dining hall pancakes. Much to their dismay, the pancakes included Froot Loops, which Wang describes as “spicy.” 

The disappointing start to their morning helped push Wang and McGough out of the dining halls and into their residence hall’s communal kitchen. Since then, the two friends have become known across campus as the chefs of 1835 Hinman. They have spent hours cooking for themselves and their peers, creating a new South Campus tradition along the way. 

“There’s a lot of people coming, even from Ayers Hall to Hinman, which is a 20 minute walk,” McGough says. “There’s people coming from everywhere to check out what’s going on.”

Although ovens and stoves were already available, Wang and McGough had to buy pots, pans and the necessary ingredients for cooking meals like fried rice, kimchi stew, apple pie and orange chicken.

Though Wang and McGough say cooking in the communal kitchens is worthwhile, preparing food in a cramped area with limited resources poses its share of challenges — especially when the kitchen starts to fill with students. 

“Before I start cooking, there’s nobody in the kitchen. And then after I start cooking, there are upward of 40 or 50 people that will make their way in,” McGough says, “which is actually insane.” 

With such high demand for their food, the friends have developed a first-come, first-served policy, though they try to make enough to ensure everyone can at least sample their cooking. 

While other students tend to treat communal  kitchens  as a place to strengthen their Cup Noodle cooking game, Wang and McGough have pushed the limits on what is possible. Jones Hall resident and Weinberg first-year Ava Tuitele recalls her vastly different experience with the Jones Hal communal kitchen.

“People are only in the communal kitchen to use the sink, microwave or occasionally the stove,” she says.

It’s a different scene in 1835 Hinman. McGough’s favorite cooking memory was when he and Wang made Korean short ribs and watched them come out of the oven cooked to perfection.

“Someone would bite into it and the entire piece would fall off the bone … or the meat would just fall off the bone before it’s even served,” McGough says. “It just made me so happy because I know I nailed the texture.”

Over time, the two students’ cooking has shifted from being a way to feed themselves to a creative outlet they can share with friends.

Weinberg first-year and fellow Hinman resident Nina Tay says she had low hopes for the South Campus social scene, where 1835 Hinman is located. 

“I expected for the floor to be a little dead, and people would just be so locked in on school that they wouldn’t really be that social,” Tay says.

However, her expectations of a disengaged community were soon dismantled. 

“I think [Wang and McGough] just brought everyone closer,” Tay says. “I’ve gotten to meet and learn a lot about new people on my floor that I didn’t know previously.”

While cooking has connected Wang and McGough with their peers, they also use food to stay in touch with those back home. Wang first learned to cook from his mother and started cooking in the communal kitchen partially because he felt homesick.

The solution turned out to be one phone call away.

“I asked my mom for her fried rice recipe and ended up making that,” Wang says. “We kind of just went on from there.” 

Print design by Evelyn Won and photos by Grace Wong.