Food for thought
The dining halls inside Harvard College’s 12 undergraduate residential Houses not only feed students at mealtimes but also become their comfort spots, places they can call home outside their dorm rooms. Each dining hall has its own decor and charm. The grandest is Annenberg Hall — not just a treat just for freshmen — with dim lighting that lends an aura of medieval wizardry. There are high wooden walls, an elaborately carved ceiling, golden chandeliers, stained-glass windows, and portraits and statues lining the walls. Decidedly different is the Kirkland House dining hall, a beautifully lit room full of friendly faces. “Kirkland’s dining hall is the nexus of all that happens in the House,” said Kate Drizos Cavell, the House administrator. “It’s rare that one single place can be so many things at once for so many people: an office, a study space, a meeting place, a lounge, a dining room, and most of all, a...