9-22-2016

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 THE INDEPENDENT WEEKLY STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY YEAR XLV. VOLUME XCI. ISSUE III.

FOOD CATALYST BU students are accommodated in dining halls, with nutritionists for food allergies p. 6

NEWS Boston Kindergartner Readiness program receives Whole Foods monetary donation p. 2

Inspection records at local restaurants raise health concerns BY MINA CORPUZ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

only one bench available for seating. “Normally, we aren’t so crowded during the weekdays,” Huang said. “But on weekends, there is a line around the door. I’d say it’s been pretty successful so far.” Watching the creation of the ice cream is the best part. The $7 price tag indicates that the customer is also paying for the experience. There is a $10 limit on cards, so if someone just wants to buy one ice cream roll, they must pay in cash. Everybody has their phones out, taking photos for Instagram and videos for Snapchat stories. After the ice cream is created, a two- to four-minute process, customers have the option of choosing unlimited toppings, similar to the process in a frozen yogurt store. Some notable toppings include a toasted marshmallow, fresh fruits and Japanese cookie sticks called Pocky. Emma Quirk, a sophomore in the the College of Arts and Sciences, said she thought the whole experience was unlike anything else offered in Allston, but it did come with a steep price tag. “The ice cream was good and it was a unique experience,” Quirk said. “However, the wait was too long for the quality, especially considering the price. I would go if you’re looking for a specialty ice cream and do not mind waiting awhile for the staff to make it.” Bostonians may not be not used to the style of Thai ice cream rolls. Billy Kindle, a shift leader of the Coolidge Corner location of J.P. Licks, a popular Boston ice cream company, contrasted the new trend with J.P. Licks’ style of ice cream. “I think it’s cute,” Kindle said in a phone interview with The Daily Free Press. “I mean, it’s a really creative way to sell

Pink mold inside an ice machine. Dirty cooking equipment. Improperly stored rice from last night. During an inspection last winter, these were among seven health and safety violations that city inspectors found in the Warren Towers dining hall. In fact, according to a Daily Free Press review of Boston Inspectional Services Department’s public data, inspectors found violations at approximately 40 percent of eateries in and around Boston University’s campus between January 2015 and September 2016. Fifty-six restaurants, dining halls and quick food stops along Commonwealth Avenue and streets branching off of campus amassed a total of 716 inspection violations. “The mayor’s committee is making sure everyone has a really good dining experience in the city,” ISD Commissioner William Christopher said. “Our response is to ensure that. When we find violations, we want to correct them.” The “Mayor’s Food Court” rates violations as noncritical, critical or foodborne critical, Christopher said. For example, food that isn’t heated or cooled properly can be a foodborne critical violation, he said. About 67 percent of violations found in and around BU campus were not critical, yet 23 percent are foodborne critical and could pose a threat to students and residents, the review found. On average, each eatery around BU had four inspections between 2015 and 2016. The number of violations for each establishment averaged to about 12, including eight non-critical violations and three foodborne illness critical violations. The kosher dining hall inside the Florence and Chafetz Hillel House had 24 violations — the highest of all the BU Dining Services eateries. Its violations ranged from missing allergen advisories on menus to a lack of employees who are trained in anti-choking. The next one on the list is Breadwinners on the second floor of the Questrom School of Business, with 17 violations, 10 of which are foodborne critical violations. The Fresh Food Company at Warren Towers had 11 total violations over the year and a half, lower than the area’s average. On the other side of the spectrum, Basho Express, Eistein Bros. Bagels in the basement of the College of Arts and Sciences and Starbucks at 700 Commonwealth Ave. had no violations between January 2015 and September 2016. Scott Rosario, a spokesman for BU Dining Services, said city inspections are a standard practice. “Dining Services receives inspections at 20 locations twice a year from the City of Boston,” he said. “Most often those inspections result in a pass without need for re-inspection. Occasionally a location will receive a fail with need for re-inspection.” Anna Nizhnik, a senior in CAS, said her friends who work with BU Dining have told her stories about things that have gone wrong. “It’s not the best, so I’m not entirely surprised, because I’ve known the quality of the food is not the greatest,” she said. “I still like Panda [Express.] I still like orange chicken, so I’m going to go there anyways.”

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PHOTO BY SARAH SILBIGER/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Hi B3ar in Allston is one of the only restaurants in Greater Boston to serve rolled ice cream, a new dessert trend.

Rolled ice cream trend hits Allston BY KALINA NEWMAN DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Located in a tight space on 147 Brighton Ave., Hi B3ar is the first restaurant in Boston to serve the latest and hottest Instagram dessert trend: the ice cream roll. Rolled ice cream debuted in Thailand around 2011 and quickly gained popularity as a fun dessert street food. The beautiful aesthetic and intriguing process quickly spread the dessert to spots in Los Angeles and New York City. The concept of the sweet snack is simple: cold, flavored cream is spread out on a chilled metal plate, frozen on the spot with mixed-in toppings such as Oreos and fudge sauce and then scraped off and shaped into spiraled ice cream rolls. Finally, after a year of the trend being featured on websites like Buzzfeed, ice cream rolls have made their debut in Boston. Hi B3ar opened in Allston last month. The owner, Tiffany Huang, also owns a nearby Sichuan establishment called Mala Restaurant and a spot in Brookline called Sushi Express. Her goal, according to the Hi B3ar website, “is to give everyone a Hot spicy taste for your mouth then a Cold sweet taste for dessert.” Upon visiting Hi B3ar on Sunday afternoon, there was a line around the block. While waiting, customers can peruse over the available flavors such as Key Lime Pie, Cookie Monster, Mango Tango and Pina Colada. Finally, after about 20 minutes of waiting, the order is placed. After that, there is another wait for the workers to call out the customer’s name, which indicates that they have started making their specific order. This all would not be so bad, had the space been larger. Instead, everybody is packed standing around the counter with


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9-22-2016 by The Daily Free Press - Issuu