New and improved Hinman Dining Center opens

The Hinman College residential community will call its newly renovated dining center home when it reopens for the fall 2021 semester on Tuesday, Aug. 24, with state-of-the-art enhancements for Hinman and the extended campus.

“The Hinman community’s motto is “Hinman is Home,’’ and what is home without a nice warm kitchen in which the family gathers to eat and talk about life? The dining hall will once again reclaim its place as the Heart of Hinman,” said Isabella Santiago Bealin, past president of the HCC Executive Board and a senior majoring in biological sciences.

The new, all-inclusive dining center features a re-imagined servery with up to nine dining concepts, and a view-worthy dining room with expanded seating.

“The Hinman Community has always been very engaged with social activity within its dining hall,” said Resident Dining General Manager John Enright. “Giving that environment back to the students while introducing unique culinary platforms and sharing our passion for great food is really exciting,”

Neapolitan Pizza, Noodle House, Wrap & Roll and Garden Grill are a few concepts that will be highlighted in the servery. “These concepts are new to campus and are exclusive to this dining location,” Enright said.

Binghamton University Dining Services (BUDS) enlisted the help of the Student Culinary Council (SCC) to offer tastings throughout the spring semester to test out new concepts to help decide what students preferred.

“We work together with the SCC to see what students want on campus. Student feedback helps us to create a positive dining experience,” Enright said.

The servery will also have a platform dedicated to vegan and vegetarian options as well as numerous menu items sensitive to dietary restrictions. “Our dietitians work with all students with special diets and we accommodate their individual needs at each of our locations, such as through Simple Servings, which provides safe, appetizing voices for students with food allergies or intolerances,” Enright said.

The center will be home to more than just the servery, also featuring a Starbucks Coffee, a convenience store, and student programming and study spaces. The renovation, which added 26,000 square-feet of space, brings Hinman Dining to 57,000 square-feet of space for the residential and campus community to enjoy.

“The Dining Hall is the true hub of Hinman College; it is not just where students go to eat, but where they make friends, memories, engage in government, and a variety of other events and activities during their time in residence,” said Katy Perry, assistant director of Residential Life for Hinman and Newing Colleges.

Opening in September in time for Family Weekend, Hinman Dining will also be home to Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill. “Menu items will be prepared fresh on site, featuring handmade pitas, baklava, gyros and falafel, with house-made salads and sauces such as tabbouleh, baba ganoush, hummus and tzatziki,” Enright said.

The final phase of the center’s renovation will be opening the Culinary MakerSpace, a commercial-grade kitchen, as a space for culinary exploration and events in late September. “This space includes a professional, full-service kitchen and a complete dining room venue,” Enright said. “It will be utilized not just as a location that student groups can use for special events or just having fun cooking together, but also as an educational kitchen for guest chefs and lectures.”

The third-floor, roof-top terrace, overlooking the Hinman Quad, is set to open in late September. “The terrace is such a great addition to Hinman,” Santiago Bealin said. “This new terrace is the perfect place to relax and watch Hinman in full swing.”

The University renovated the 55-year-old dining center to bring a renewed sense of community to Hinman and to support the current and future needs of the popular residential community.

“The new dining center is jam-packed with surprises and we can’t wait to start making new memories within its newly constructed walls,” Santiago Bealin said.