Tudor Room cooks up seasonal buffets in elegance, taste wrapped with a ribbon

Cinnamon, ham and pates mark the arrival of the holiday season in the Tudor Room at the Indiana Memorial Union.

IMU Executive Chef Damian Esposito incorporates seasonal spices and fruits such as cinnamon, allspice, pumpkin and pear into a traditional holiday menu design.

“It has a holiday feel, but not too much like Christmas,” Esposito said.

The Tudor Room serves many holiday parties in the evenings as well as its daily lunch and Sunday buffet. For the Thanksgiving buffet, Tudor Room supervisor and cashier Joy Martin, a graduate student, said 520 people attended. 

Esposito, along with three or four cooks, a few dishwashers and a setup crew, prepares to serve between 200 and 300 people every day at the room’s lunch buffet.
Esposito attended culinary school in Pittsburgh while working at the prestigious Duquesne Club.

There he worked in a full-brigade kitchen alongside the captain of the Culinary Olympic team. After working at a variety of country clubs and hotels in Pittsburgh, Ohio and Texas, most recently a Marriott Hotel in Austin, Texas, Esposito said he found his way to the Tudor Room through Craigslist.

Esposito’s role as IMU Executive Chef entails overseeing and cooking for the Tudor Room as well as operating catering services in the Union and at Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.

A normal day for Esposito begins in the director’s office going over banquet and event orders. Then, he delegates tasks to 30 or 40 associates throughout dining services in the Union.

Afterward it is time for an iced tea, more production sheets and making rounds throughout the services for which he is responsible.

Esposito said the Tudor Room kitchen consists of both a hot and a cold side. The cold side is simpler and requires less preparation time for items such as salad. On the hot side, chefs with higher expertise pay greater attention to timing, temperature, recipes and flavoring.

Then there are those lustrous desserts, which are created by the same chefs as the bakery Sugar and Spice. The assortment of seasonal cakes, pastries and breads are also included in the lunch buffet.

Diners can choose to indulge solely in the gourmet coffee and dessert bar.
The menu at the Tudor Room keeps regulars and first-time diners entertained as the menu changes from day to day based on a cyclical four-week menu created by Esposito.

Although this four-week menu runs for two months at a time, Esposito said details are changed and that menus do not fall on the same day of the week that they did during the last cycle.

While Martin recommends the veggie penne pasta, junior Jeff Nam, who said he has eaten in the Tudor Room five or six times this year, said the lasagna and salad bar are his favorites.

Esposito also said he likes to keep things interesting within the buffet. He said that it is important to maintain balance and provide something for everyone. Avoiding repetition by varying the quantity and assortment of color, texture and flavor helps to achieve this.

“I try to put a surprise in something,” he said.

For example, a regular dish might be served spicy one day, he said.

One specialty to look out for this season is a favorite of Esposito’s: paella with layers of flavor from clams, muscles, shrimp, chicken and spices such as saffron.

While Esposito said that the food does not always emit a certain essence, the setting does.

Patrons feast among multicolored seasonal candles and a grand piano, which stand amid lush red carpeting, tapestries, chandeliers and a ceiling-high wall of windows that provide a warm ambiance for holiday dining.

Martin added that the atmosphere is formal yet relaxing.

“It mostly looks like Hogwarts,” Esposito said.

Tudor Room Buffet
WHEN 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday to Friday
PRICE $8.15 to $10.95 and dessert bar $3.25

WHEN 1 to 1:30 p.m. Monday to Friday
PRICE $7.50 with student ID

Sunday Brunch
WHEN 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sundays
PRICE $17.50

Chimes of Christmas Buffet
WHEN 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 9
PRICES $22.95

For more information, visit
www.imu.indiana.edu/dining/tudorroom.shtml.