On Monday, April 14, Bucknell Dining Services held their inaugural “Supper Club” event, hosting 38 guests for an “upscaled” dinner in Walls Lounge. The event was themed “April Garden Gala,” with decor around the room and on the tables to match, and featured student band “Keeping Company” for entertainment. Coordinating with the decor were several photo backdrops set up around the room, open for students to pose with. Some of the students in attendance posed with their “party favors” from the event, including Lego Flowers and mini planter pots.
Mocktails, several of which bore sprightly spring-related nomenclature or flavor profiles, were available for students to sample— a total of four mocktails comprised the total of the “special” drink offerings. Four courses were provided for each student in attendance; students could select between the vegetarian/vegan option of cauliflower steak with butter bean purée and a Surf & Turf plate with a six-ounce cut of filet mignon and two jumbo shrimp with a scampi butter sauce.
Emily Rivera ’25 had two of the four mocktails which were “to die for.” She went so far as to “take a photo of the recipe” so that she can make them again on her own; the names of the drinks were displayed next to their places on the makeshift bar. Having heard about the Supper Club through the Bison Kitchen Instagram account, she went into the event thinking “it sounded fun,” and upon arriving formed the initial impression that the “atmosphere […] decor, place settings and menu options” were “gorgeous.” For her meal, she chose lobster mac and cheese bites and calamari as appetizers, the steak as her main course and bananas foster for dessert. “All of the food was amazing,” Rivera remembers, but the “only downside” was that “some of it was on the colder end.”
Hannah Kim ’25 also felt the serving was “a bit awkward.” She had heard about the Supper Club from her friends, and “wanted to go because the food sounded pretty good” and, compared to her usual dining, “a nice change of pace.” The event itself, for Kim, was “really nice,” with “pretty” decorations and “great” mocktails, of which she also had two — the Lemon Basil Faux-Mojito and the Mint Berry Spritzer. The “one long table” of seating wasn’t what she was expecting and contributed to the awkwardness of the food delivery, so she “would have separated it into multiple tables.” That being said, her food (she also chose the steak meal) “exceeded [her] expectations,” and she really enjoyed the live music.
Both Rivera and Kim appreciated the thoughtfulness of the event and hope that Bucknell Dining continues with them. “These types of events are a great idea,” Kim comments, and “themes are always fun too.” Rivera “wish[es she] had more time at the end of the semester” so that she could “attend another before graduation!” Moving forward, as Dining works out the kinks of these events and continues honing their menu, updates can be found on their social media. They are working to craft another Supper Club event, open to the first students who sign up regardless of previous attendance, in the coming weeks.
