Students arriving back on campus after spring break undoubtedly noticed major changes at Ferris Booth Commons—most notably, a rotating choice of healthy entrees and a new smoothie bar. All these improvements are part of an attempt, in the words of Chef de Cuisine of Ferris Booth Commons Raymond Prete, “to keep things in constant change and to upgrade” with the hope of “keeping people excited.”
Prete felt that fresh fruits were not easily available on campus, and worked to address the problem with Executive Director of Dining Services Joseph Heavey. The pair decided to move the soup bar from the front of the display to the back, and add a fresh fruit bar in its place. Although the original idea was to give students the opportunity to buy a platter of fruit with accompaniments such as chocolate sauce and whipped cream, the idea for a smoothie bar evolved soon after.
Prete chose to use Naked Juice for the smoothie base and to mix in fresh seasonal ingredients. So far, fruits have included winter citrus fruits such as orange and grapefruit, more exotic fruits such as mango and guava, and just recently spring fruits like watermelon.
Because Ferris Booth’s smoothies are made with fresh ingredients, they are much healthier than many alternate smoothie options, such as those from JJ’s Place, which are made with syrups and either canned or frozen fruit. Ferris’ fresh fruit not only tastes better, but also cuts unnecessary calories, according to Columbia registration dietician Ina Tsagarakis. Tsagarakis estimated that a 16-ounce smoothie comprised of Naked mango juice, pineapple, and watermelon is around 105 calories—less than half of a comparable “traditional” smoothie.
While Prete wanted to start simple, he said that “the person whose running it, Edna [Brandini], she’s taken ownership of the station.” Prete has since stepped back and let Brandini have most of the control over day-to-day operations. She will customize smoothies to students’ tastes, and is happy to cut up any fruit that is available. “You can have it either smoothified or as fresh fruit,” she explained.
And because Ferris Booth uses real, fresh fruit, the smoothies have much more texture and heft than the average smoothie. And in contrast to many run-of-the-mill smoothies, the flavors of the individual fruits combined in the drink can actually be separately identified.
Student opinion about the new Ferris innovations seems mixed, but favorable overall. Javier Baez, CC ’11, felt that his smoothie was “very good.” Sudeep Moniz, SEAS ’10, was slightly less enamored but still positive: it was “not sweet enough and slightly sour at first” but became “progressively more enjoyable” as he drank more. Moniz agreed that the drink tasted “more natural than most other smoothies.”
These smoothies do not come cheap, though. At $5.95 for 16 ounces, they cost the same amount as a sandwich. By contrast, the smoothies downstairs at Café East are only $4.15 for 20 ounces.
Yet the smoothie bar is a very healthy option on campus—something that can be hard to find at college—and is bound to become a popular option as the weather warms up and spring hits us full blast.