By Fruma Landa, News Editor
After many months of construction and planning, the communal kitchen in the Schottenstein Residence Hall on 29th Street, will open. Students on the Beren Campus received an email from Beren Housing on November 18th announcing the news: “We are excited to announce that the Schottenstein Communal Kitchen will officially open on Wednesday, November 20th. Please review the attached Kitchen Guidelines with more details regarding protocol and a link to sign up.”
The email also informed students that to celebrate the opening, there will be a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Tuesday, November 19th from 7-8 p.m., with all students invited to attend. In the back lounge of the Schottenstein Residence Hall there will be cakes and other baked goods for students to enjoy. Students will also be able to explore and get familiar with the new kitchen.
Attached to the email was a Schottenstein Communal Kitchen Information Sheet with more information pertaining to rules and regulations of the kitchen. The sheet explained that the kitchen will be open from Monday — Thursday from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and Sunday from 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. The kitchen will be certified by the OU and an on-site mashgicha will always be present to make sure that the expected kashrus standards are maintained in the kitchen.
According to the Schottenstein Communal Kitchen Information Sheet, there will be “designated sinks for each of meat and dairy, as well as prep areas for meat, dairy, and pareve. 4 meat, 3 dairy, and 1 pareve standard oven, each with a 4-burner stove; 1 full-sized meat and 1 full-sized dairy refrigerator; 2 meat and 2 dairy microwaves.”
Beren Campus undergraduates can sign up to use a kitchen slot in advance, as explained by Housing: “Each week, an updated sign up link will be shared with all undergraduate students in Beren […] Housing via SignUpGenius, which is being used to manage student access to the kitchen. Schottenstein undergraduate residents will have access to the sign-up form two weeks in advance. The rest [of the undergraduates in Beren Housing] will have access to the sign up form one week in advance.” If there are available slots, walk-ins will be welcome, as long as the student signs in with the mashgicha.
Although the utensils and appliances may contain traces of nuts, the kitchen will be a nut-free zone and all of the ingredients the undergraduates in Beren Housing choose to use need to be approved by the mashgicha.
If reserved two weeks in advance, the kitchen can also be used for Beren undergraduate programming from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesdays. Men will only be allowed into the kitchen to attend these events.
Although undergraduates in Beren Housing may not bring their own kitchen utensils, there will be cooking equipment available for them to use. Additionally, “Schottenstein undergraduate residents are eligible to sign up for one small storage locker. Lockers are available on a first come, first serve basis.”
More information can be found on the Schottenstein Communal Kitchen Information Sheet which was sent out to Beren students via sstuds.