New management gives historic 'Skellar a facelift

By Benjamin Engle

In its 60th year of operation, Union College’s underground pub, the Rathskellar is getting a face-lift by its new manager, Andrew Lashley.

The Rathskellar is located in the basement of Old Chapel, just as it was when students opened it on December 2, 1949. It has been operated by Union Dining Services since 1984 and continues to be a popular dining destination among students.

Lashley, a culinary school graduate and 20-year veteran in the kitchen, has hit the ground running since starting his job as manager on January 2nd to ensure that students continue to enjoy spending time at the Rathskellar. In addition to managing Union’s historic pub, he is in charge of food operations at College Park Hall, hockey games, summer camps, as well as Dutch Hollow on Saturdays.

As part of his goals to improve the Rathskellar and “keep it packed,” Lashley has begun to clean up the facility and make it more student-friendly. His first priorities were giving it a fresh coat of paint and removing the stickers off the front serving counter.

As well as building upon his experience in the kitchen, Lashley plans to use his talents as an artist to the table. In the coming months, Lashley will be working on a Caribbean beach-styled mural for the Rathskellar that will contain the caption, “A cool place to relax.” He would also like to add a permanent sign outside of Old Chapel to make it known where the Rathskellar is.
“I had to clean the place up because people eat with their eyes. Nobody wants to eat where it’s dirty,” Lashley said.

In addition to cleanliness around the serving and dining areas, Lashley has worked to improve food safety at the facility. He has trained Rathskellar employees to ensure that food is handled properly during preparation and serving.

While Lashley has primarily focused on the Rathskellar’s environment and safety thus far, he has big plans for the menu as well. He is currently looking into making the Rathskellar more group-friendly with menu options ranging from cheese and nachos to combo platters that can be shared between friends. In addition, Lashley is incorporating vegetarian soups into the pub’s menu as well as new “on-the-go” snack cups.

Lashley would also like to see the Rathskellar become a place where people can just talk over a cup of coffee or tea. “I want it to be the ultimate hangout where students can have a cup of coffee and eat some homemade pie,” commented Lashley.

In the short term, however, Lashley has scheduled late-night breakfast menu nights in addition to the traditional Rathskellar menu. Currently, the first breakfast nights are scheduled for January 31st and February 28th.

Lashley’s vision for the Rathskellar is defined by whatever keeps the students happy, so he hopes to keep the pub fresh and exciting without losing its time-tested feel. “The Rathskellar is historic but we should incorporate the new and the old to keep it fresh, “ he explained.

In a nod to the Rathskellar’s long history of hosting live music, Lashley would like to invite live bands to play during late nights in order to remove the silence from the pub and revive the feeling that the Rathskellar once had.

According to Lashley, he has received nothing but optimism towards his changes to the Rathskellar. “Everybody loves the renovations,” he said. “We have been getting a lot of good feedback.”

Pete Dallo, a supervisor at the Rathskellar, echoed this optimism about the operation’s future saying, “The ‘Skellar is a great place and will continue to be a great place.”
But not all are happy about the changes.

“I don’t like the new paint job,” a Rathskellar employee who wished to be anonymous said. “Student-workers used to sign their names on the columns before they graduated. I feel like we are losing that tradition and feel.”

As Lashley continues to review and upgrade the Rathskellar’s operations, he encourages students to fill out suggestion cards. “We are trying to keep students happy when the come into the Rathskellar. Any suggestions about dishes or the ‘Skellar overall would be great and we will try to make it happen.”

Originally published in Union's Concordy on January 29, 2009.