After having almost been knocked down, the student dining hall "Mensa am Park" in Weimar was classed as a listed building in 2011 - the most recent in Thuringia. It was ultimately saved as a notable testimony to late GDR modernist architecture and completely renovated by 2022. Students can now enjoy outstanding dining options under a cloud of glass and light. Not only does MKN's professional cooking equipment match the style perfectly, it significantly helps to provide large numbers of guests with freshness and quality every day.
The dining hall is a must-visit for all students. Not only does it offer reasonably priced meals close to the University, it is also a popular meeting place. A wide variety of food and beverage options is available in the Thuringia student services' dining halls and cafeterias, clearly reflecting preferences and requirements of guests. With three menu options, the kitchen teams ensure plenty of variety. "MensaVital" focuses on healthy, sustainable nutrition. "MensaRegional" offers dishes consisting of locally sourced food and "MensaInternational" is a cross-cultural menu selection with tested recipes from students for students "to counter homesickness and food cravings." Menu options have even won awards and popular recipes been compiled into a cookbook.
"Have you given the food a Like today?" An important question on the student services' dining hall website, as guests can indeed influence the menu. The most liked dishes are served more frequently. Altogether, high demands on the community catering facility that require considerable flexibility. Smart MKN professional appliances such as FlexiChef Team, FlexiCombi and our modular system brilliantly overcome the challenges faced in the "Mensa am Park."
While intelligent features support efficiency and successful cooking in the kitchen, the restaurant team does everything possible to ensure that a sustainable and diverse selection of food and beverages is available. For example, vegan action days, certified organic meals and Fairtrade coffee beans. Tea, hot beverages containing cocoa and sustainably produced fruit and muesli bars are on offer at all times. There is even an illustrated cafeteria dictionary in three languages. Sustainable materials are also important. Some products have been withdrawn from sale and replaced by eco-friendly alternatives. For example, in the dining halls and cafeterias, you now find PLA To-Go bowls, disposable cutlery made of FSC certified wood, bamboo stirrers and plant-based sandwich bags made from sugar cane.
Serving fresh food from high quality ingredients to large numbers of guests certainly remains the focus in the "Mensa am Park" dining hall. We're proud of the fact that MKN's professional cooking equipment is playing a central role to improve workflow efficiency.
