So, as all Amherst kids know, Val is pretty much the bane of the Amherst student's existance. It serves consistently over- or under-cooked food made from a low-grade product that turns out a meal that is at best satisfactory and more usually just plain disappointing. Every year, the one bright spot on the Val menu occurs on Friday of Parents' Weekend, when Val hosts local farmers, chefs, and purveyors, inviting them in to set up samples of their products. Val also designs the menu of the day to reflect the amazing local food and it is usually the one day a year that I am happy at Val. This year, our new Executive Chef, Jeremy Rousch (who I believe knows what he's doing but doesn't have enough leeway or money to make anything happen) made some incredible chili featuring local farmed beef. The beef, for the first time ever at Val, was juicy and tender, able to be sliced with just a fork. Awesome, right? I walked up to all of the Val management and more or less begged them to put this on the menu.
Well, here's where you can start shaking your head because no story about Val ever has a happy ending. Today I saw that "chuck wagon chili" was on the menu and I got super excited because that was the chili! It was coming back! I loaded up a bowl and more excited than I've been at Val since they got rid of cereal at dinner, took a bite. A chewy, tough bite. Wait a second, this can't be right. I've had this before - the beef was so moist and tender! Another bite - same result. After eating enough to be convinced that my first bite was not a fluke, the answer came to me: this time, Val had not advertised the origin of the beef, meaning that it was definitely not the same product. Knowing Val, this inevitably means a product of less quality and, man, it showed. Instead of a chili that was one of the best I've ever had, I had something that I will never eat again. Ever.
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