A new menu is available at Ellington’s as they reopen for the semester today.

The restaurant is run by students of family, consumer, and nutrition science (FCNS) class 320.

The restaurant has more than 100 reservations for today. A three-course meal with a beverage and tips costs $10. For those 21 or older, wines specifically matched to each entrée are available at an additional cost of $4.50.

This semester’s reincarnation features a brand new menu with themes focusing on cuisines from around the world. The new menu selections include “an afternoon in Barcelona,” “from Russia with love” and “Greek grandeur.”

Each week will feature two menus for patrons and each menu features two choices for each course.

The class is taught by Joan Quinn, who has been doing it for more than 20 years. FCNS 320 originally occupied the Chandelier Room in Adams Hall and offered an all-you-can-eat buffet. The class outgrew the facility in 2006 and was invited into the Holmes Student Center.

Quinn said that the student-run upscale restaurant has been called the best dining in the DeKalb/Sycamore area by some patrons.

“It’s really hard to practice that [serving] unless you have a crowd of people,” Quinn said. “We did a simulation last week. That was the most chaotic day of the semester by far.”

Quinn said students will be surprised but she’s sure everything would go alright.

“We work really hard to make sure our students are successful,” Quinn said. “So we aren’t going to let them screw up too badly.”

Early in the semester, students of the class are divided into teams and create their own menus, plan food orders, develop recipes, and prepare for everything else.

Each day, a different team takes control while the rest act as support staff.

Jory Weiss, junior hospitality administration major, is the dining room manager in her group. Her duties include greeting patrons, seating them and making sure the dining room runs smoothly. Weiss encouraged students to try the restaurant.

“It’s a new experience,” Weiss said. “It’s kind of fun eating dishes that you know somebody your own age created and prepared.”

Today’s menu is called Winter Warmth at Ellington’s. It features creamy tomato basil soup with a mini grilled cheese and an arugula and radicchio citrus salad. The meatloaf cupcakes entrée is a twist on the comfort food classic. Dark chocolate hazelnut crepes and gingered cranberry pear cobbler tarts are dessert.

“It looks pretty welcoming,” said Nathan Lupstein, freshman political science and philosophy major. “You know, it looks nice and it has an elegant atmosphere, some sort of sophistication with it.”

For more information or to make a reservation, visit www.niu.edu/ellingtons.

 

Ellington’s is open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with seatings between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays. Reservations are recommended but not required. To make one, call 815-753-1763 or fill out the online reservation form at webapps.hhsweb.com/reservations/.