By Aiden Miller
Seeing the young and innocent faces of the incoming freshmen is always a sobering sight. Sadly, new students will quickly unearth that one of Binghamton’s most bragged-about accomplishments was a lie: its food.
“The Premier Public Ivy” often touts the vast food options it provides to its hardworking and dedicated student body. From the Kosher Korner to Subway, Harvey Stenger and his cronies peddle how Binghamton University and its food provider Sodexo continuously strive to provide the best possible food for its students. Despite seeking clout from the students, many seasoned veterans know all too well that those words are as hollow as Bush Sr. promising no new taxes. So read my lips when I tell you the school’s administration ain’t telling the truth.
The best way to characterize how returning students feel about their first experience with the food on campus is via a multi-week cycle.
The first week, new students scour campus, looking for new food options or returning to old favorites they discovered during orientation. Many discover the most popular food joints: Mein Bowl, Tully’s, and C4 Dining Hall. Others often trek to places off the beaten path: Appalachian Dining Hall, Garbanzo, and Einstein Bros. (These may be controversial picks).
By the beginning of week two, many new students have hit all the dining halls and Marketplace options (unless you’re a computer science major who hasn’t left their room). As students progress through week two, they start feeling… different. The different feeling is often caused by two things: food poisoning or the poisoning of their food. Getting food poisoning at Binghamton is like a rite of passage. You’re not officially a student until your stomach has been tortured worse than an Amy Klobuchar staffer…
As you progress through week two, going to a dining hall has become a slog. Many food options begin to repeat and the food quality plateaus. The options often start to blend together, closely resembling the synthetic Krabby Patties they sold at Krabby O’Monday’s in SpongeBob. In retrospect, Krabby O’Monday’s and Sodexo aren’t that much different from each other; Both have sold out and are selling the slop they call food for triple its retail price!
Now I’m not writing this solely to shit on Sodexo, but they deserve it. I’m really here to write about the true diamond in the rough when it comes to Sodexo Slop. The one food item that will save your stomach in a time of need. A true champion in not giving incoming and returning students food poisoning. Some even refer to it as the Batman of Foods: The DiMaggio.
Most New Yorkers hear “DiMaggio” and think of that old-timey Yankees Hall of Fame baseball player. But when Binghamton University students hear “DiMaggio,” the only thing that comes to mind is the sandwich from NY Deli in the Marketplace. Often, the NY Deli in the Marketplace seems elusive. The choice of reasonably priced sandwiches made with good and fresh ingredients (to Binghamton standards) seems too good to be true.
But why does acquiring a sandwich, specifically the DiMaggio, seem so tough to comprehend? Primarily, two factors contribute: the lack of attention brought to the NY Deli during tours and the draw of the big name brands.
Walking through the Marketplace is like going to the car dealership. They have a range of vehicles from preowned to new luxury cars. Subway and Starbucks are shiny Lamborghinis while NY Deli is the preowned Toyota Corolla with 175,000 miles. At first, the speed and beauty of the Lamborghini will attract the most people, but the beaten-up Corolla will, in the long run, be the best and most reliable. Once a student finally gets over the hump and dares to stand in line at the NY Deli will they finally realize how wrong they were for so long.
But why the DiMaggio? Why not the Rock Street or Avocado Caprese?
Partially its simplicity, but partly because it’s the only option on the menu that Tony Soprano would pick. Let’s just run through how they build the sandwich. The bread is always the star of the show. Freshly baked ciabatta toasted up is the perfect bread to use for this sandwich. The marriage between the crispy bread and savory fillings is wonderful.
Next, let’s talk fillings. The meat of choice for this sandwich is prosciutto. Although quite salty, the pure taste of the meat is to die for. Marrying prosciutto with fresh mozzarella and arugula would have made even Tony Soprano die in peace (he died at the end of the show despite what Tony Truthers say). To top it off, they layer the ciabatta with a layer of pesto mayo so good you could drink it out of a bottle.
Despite this article being more of an ode to the DiMaggio, I hope this opens new students’ eyes to arguably the most reliable food item on campus. I highly encourage you to go and try new things because “life is the spice of variety” or something like that. But let this article serve as a reminder; The DiMaggio will NOT give you food poisoning and unlike your father, who hasn’t returned from getting a pack of cigs at the gas station, will NEVER let you down!