Dining Hall transforms into the Great Hall for Harry Potter Halloween

On the eve of Halloween, students were greeted by butterbeer and a Sorting Hat as the University of Richmond’s Heilman Dining Center transformed into a Harry Potter-inspired feast. 

The entrance to the dining hall featured a re-creation of King’s Cross station with suitcases, an owl resembling Hedwig, and banners for Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. To the right, guests were served cups of butterbeer. 

The rooms were decorated with banners and lights from the four Hogwarts houses. Music from the Harry Potter movies played over the loudspeakers and the first film, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” was projected onto the wall of the second room. Many students and staff were even seen dressed in costume, as characters from the wizarding world. 

Lauren Engel, a second-year student, admired the Hogwarts-inspired atmosphere, “I really love the decorations – the lights and signs and everything – I think it’s really cute.”

Sophomore Lucy Wood agreed, “I’ve seen all the movies; I watch all of them every year with my family and I would say the music is the most nostalgic for me. I think it’s so fun.”

The menu for the evening included pumpkin bisque, beef cottage pie, Guinness stew, pumpkin risotto, roasted chicken with mushroom gravy, and, as a side, Welsh rarebit cauldron dip. For dessert, a variety of magical treats were offered, including a “Happy Birthday Harry” cake, Sorting Hat cupcakes, Hogwarts letter cherry turnovers, Golden Snitch cheesecake bites and lightning bolt sugar cookies. 

Students like Wood and senior Eraj Khokhar expressed enthusiasm for the menu, applauding both the taste and creativity. 

The event lasted from 4:30 to 8 pm, but setup began around noon, said Kirsten McKinney, Director of Marketing for Campus Operations. 

“The process for this started late last spring. We’ve been building this menu in R&D [Research and Development] — practicing our recipes, testing the sauces, tasting our bakeshop stuff, learning more about the film and the story and trying to apply that,” said Andrew Kerscher, Chef de Cuisine at the University of Richmond. 

McKinney also said the culinary team used a lot of Harry Potter cookbooks for inspiration and were inspired by English pub fare to put together the menu. 

The Harry Potter Halloween event is a new addition to the University of Richmond’s themed dining tradition. 

“Last year we did Willy Wonka, which was kinda off trend to y’all’s generations, so we wanted to do something that was more part of your childhood and your experience,” Kerscher said, “So, we decided Harry Potter was the best for that.” 

UR Dining Services also emphasized that the broader purpose of hosting themed events was to provide culinary experiences that allow patrons to try food outside of their daily diets.

Peter Torneo, Chef Production Manager of UR’s Dining Services, said, “Our events are a great opportunity for us to not only learn, but teach and allow the campus community to explore cuisine that we wouldn’t necessarily experience in our day-to-day lives, or even in the Richmond greater area as a whole.”

Torneo went further and said, “We are an institution of higher learning and we take that very seriously here in the kitchen. Those of us who are chefs probably spend more time teaching than cooking, which is kind of a cool part of our job.”

Senior Eraj Khokhar said the dining hall’s tradition of themed events have a positive impact on the UR student experience. 

“Whatever themes they do are always good, like Diwali, but this, I would say, was one of the best ones. All of the people are excited to be here.”

Khokhar continued, saying, “I feel like such things do bring us together. It gives a really good sense of connection.”

Contact news writer Olivia Carr at Olivia.Carr@richmond.edu