Local and sustainable at EMPAC

My friend and fellow comic book fan, Jason, passed this tidbit of news along to me. I thought it would be of particular value to share it here for a few reasons.

EMPAC at RPI is an awesome performing arts center. While I was a graduate student at RPI, I heard a lot about what the plans were while it was being built, and it sounded impressive. When I saw it with my own eyes, it blew me away. EMPAC has hosted a number of events, and the schedules get more and more interesting.

I somehow missed the memo that an eatery that exists within EMPAC that offers options that are focused around the seasons with local and sustainable ingredients. I think they’ve been doing that for a while, but the press release basically indicates that they’re opening daily for lunch (in addition to during public events), which is great if you’re on campus.

Here’s a link to an example menu. I’m definitely intrigued.

You can view a ZIP file with some pictures of the dishes here:

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Full press release:

EMPAC’s Evelyn’s Café expanding hours to include weekday lunch
Menu to focus on local and sustainable ingredients

Wednesday, January 16 * Troy, NY — The Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) and Hospitality Services at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute announce the expansion of hours for Evelyn’s Café. Beginning Tuesday, January 22, the café will be open for lunch Monday through Friday from 11 AM–2 PM, in addition to supporting public events. The menu will be seasonal and will focus on locally sourced items.

“This expansion of café hours makes EMPAC an exceptional gathering space, providing opportunities for a meal with colleagues or a snack before or after a performance in the special atmosphere of the building. We hope to continue the expansion into the morning and evening hours in the future. And we are pleased that the daily offerings include “eating local,” a unique menu on campus,” said Johannes Goebel, director of EMPAC.

“We are committed to showcasing local and sustainable ingredients to create a seasonal contemporary menu for our guests,” said Elaine Reynolds, Hospitality Services marketing director.

Evelyn’s Café opened in 2008. The café will continue to be open one hour before all curated events as well as during intermissions and after most performances. Rensselaer’s student run and sustainability focused Terra Café will be serving lunch on Wednesdays.

Vectors of Research—Circles of Art

EMPAC—The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center—is where the arts, sciences, and technology interact with and influence each other by using the same facilities, technologies, and by breathing the same air.

Situated on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, EMPAC is dedicated to building bridges between our human senses, to modes of perception and experience, to creating meaning in a physical environment, and to the intangible world of digital technology.

Four discrete venues are designed with unique technical infrastructure to enable audiences to see, hear, and move in space in endlessly different ways. EMPAC hosts artists and researchers to create new work and presents events which ask audiences to join the quest for new perspectives.

Hospitality Services at Rensselaer is a passionate, dynamic, and fun-loving team striving to satisfy diverse tastes and appetites on the Rensselaer campus. With an emphasis on convenience and flexibility, Hospitality Services provides a variety of menu choices that reflect a commitment at Evelyn’s Café to local and sustainable offerings.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, founded in 1824, is the nation’s oldest technological university. The school offers degrees in engineering, the sciences, information technology, architecture, management, and the social sciences and humanities. For over 30 years, the Institute has been a leader in interdisciplinary creative research, especially in the electronic arts. In addition to its MFA and PhD programs in electronic arts, Rensselaer offers bachelor degrees in electronic arts, and in electronic media, arts, and communication — one of the first undergraduate programs of its kind in the United States. The Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies and EMPAC are two major research platforms that Rensselaer established at the beginning of the 21st century.