The Road Less Traveled Leads to Vegan Jerky: An Interview with Jack & Friends founder Jessica Kwong ’18

With graduation looming, the frequency of nosy questions about post-graduation life from parents, friends, friends of parents and parents of friends far and wide reaches its peak. “What are you doing after graduation?” Is a question every senior dreads answering, but for Jessica Kwong ’18, the question brought on an entirely new crisis: Accept the return offer for one of the biggest snack companies in the world or start from scratch building her very own company? She eventually decided on the latter, and Kwong declined the job offer in favor of creating what would eventually become Jack & Friends in March 2019, a plant-based jerky line with jackfruit as a main ingredient.

A Foodie Farewell to the Top 10 Collegetown Establishments That Have Closed in the Past Decade

Restaurants and bars are constantly closing and opening; the skyline and structure of Collegetown never stays the same two years in a row. However, no matter how many places come and go, the old names are places alumni will always remember as a crucial part of their Cornell experience. Here are the top ten Collegetown destinations we lost this past decade, still full of the memories and friendships made that will continue to live on for a lifetime.

Atrium Cafe: Off the Beaten Path

If you ask any undergrad here what their favorite campus eatery is, they’ll likely say Terrace, Trillium or Zeus. Each one is delicious in their own right, but let’s be real — making it through the lines at these places is hard work. Even in the late morning, you’ll find long lines filing out of most popular campus eateries. Although no eatery could ever replace my beloved Terrace salad or Zeus soup, I’m getting a bit tired of spending my entire lunch break waiting in these lines, leaving me to discreetly eat my lunch in the back of the lecture. My solution? The Atrium Cafe.

My Summer Romance: Wegmans Edition

Spending the summer in Ithaca to enjoy the only two months of warm weather here is number 31 on the list of 161 Things Every Cornellian Should Do. I can proudly say that I’ve accomplished the feat this summer, and did it in a small two bedroom apartment with no AC to boot. The warm weather did little to ease the stuffy heat of the place, which directly faces the sun and held no relief from the most humid and hellish of days, but I like to think I learned a lot more in the tiny kitchen of that apartment because of the temperature. Simple lessons that I should’ve learned a long time ago stuck with me due to the heat, and here are just a few of them.

Experiencing NS 4880’s Themed Dinners on West Campus

Every spring, dietetics students of Nutritional Sciences 4880: Applied Dietetics in Food Service Systems learn how to operate and manage a food service system with practical, hands-on application culminating in themed dinners in West Campus dining rooms. Students are “divided into teams to work with Cornell Dining chefs to design a nutritionally balanced, yet creative and delicious dinner for the greater Cornell community,” and several of us in the dining department had the pleasure of experiencing and reviewing each themed dinner this year. Here’s what we thought!

ZHANG | Yes, Zeus Is Better than Libe. But Goldie’s Is Better Than Both.

Editor’s Note: This piece is part of The Sun’s dueling columns feature. In this feature, Katie Zhang ’21, Dining Editor, and Katie Sims ’20, former Associate Editor, debate, “Which cafe is better: Temple of Zeus or Amit Bhatia Libe Cafe?” Read the counterpart column here. In the fast-paced bubble of our Cornell campus, Olin Library’s Amit Bhatia Libe Cafe is a humble, reassuring constant which stands firm through the confusing and unpredictable turns of college life. Libe is great. For a quick bite between cramming for a prelim and stressing out about how little you actually know for said prelim, Libe has you covered with enough snacks and caffeine to keep your mind wired until your brain falls out of your head.

Dining Hall Diversity: Being Vegetarian at Cornell

As I navigate my way through West Campus dining halls, Trillium, Terrace and yes, even Okenshields, I realize my appreciation for Cornell’s food extends beyond the meals the University provides and into the accessibility and openness this community has for vegetarians and vegans alike.

Dining Debates: All the Sauces

This week we’re all about the sauces that make our foods better. How do you like your ketchup with your fries and where do you store that maple syrup? Vote in the Dining Debates food poll today!