tastes of the worldThe students at the University of California in Los Angeles have it good.

An entire dining hall on UCLA’s campus was designed to feature Pan-Asian cuisines, a nod to the region’s cultural diversity and a heartwarming welcome for many students for whom the meals evoke comfort foods they grew up eating (not ethnic or “exotic” foods). For others, it’s a chance to explore new flavors, textures and cultures.

The menu rotates among dishes from various Asian cultures. A few examples: Japanese soba noodles with grilled asparagus in sweet miso sauce, Indian chicken vindaloo curry with basmati rice, Korean kimbap rice rolls with marinated grilled beef and Vietnamese banh xeo pork and shrimp crepes. There’s even an online site that tracks calories and nutritional information by dish.

The result: FEAST at Rieber (formerly Rieber Residential Restaurant) gets four stars on Yelp, where one reviewer called it “an oasis in a desert of lackluster dorm food,” and its attendance has more than tripled.

FEAST was one of dozens of food service venues featured during a weeklong inspirational gathering of culinary professionals at UMass Amherst this summer called “Tastes of the World Chef Culinary Conference.” Some chefs shared stories about successes while others demonstrated how to make sensational green corn tamales with mole verde.

June Jo Lee, The Hartman Group’s vice president of strategic insights, spoke at the conference about the Millennial appetite, including the predilection of young adults for constant experimentation in a culinary landscape that is vastly different from what their parents experienced at their age.

She also stayed for insights and inspiration from a host of chefs and other food service professionals and was encouraged by the innovation happening on campuses and at other food service venues.

Culturally, it’s a big deal when students shift away from their parents’ kitchens to college food — and the food they experience there can make a lasting impression.

Colleges are “not only feeding kids but a future generation of people who are going to start families and set up their own kitchens,” Jo Lee said.

UCLA and others at the “Tastes of the World” conference are very tuned into the fact that consumers — and Millennials in particular — want adventurous dining. In our Modern Eating 2013 report, The Hartman Group said 60 percent of eating occasions from food service venues are of global cuisines.

That figure becomes even more potent when you realize that people increasingly depend on food service establishments. Despite their renewed appreciation for home-cooked food, people do not tend to starting making most meals at home the moment they leave a dorm setting.

Food service becomes an extension of their kitchens, an important supplier of meals and meal parts. When people are in a hurry, they are especially likely to rely on fast casual restaurants and other food service locations. Nearly two-thirds of immediate-consumption occasions — food eaten less than an hour after it’s bought — are sourced from food service. In 13 percent of those cases, the food is actually eaten at home. They’re motivated not by the pleasure of a restaurant experience but by wanting someone else to cook for them.

In 40 percent of food service occasions, consumers are looking for something better than their usual fare, and the share is 44 percent for Millennials. That’s a major reason places like Chipotle Mexican Grill, SweetGreen and FEAST at Rieber are so popular. People think they’re getting higher-quality food, a perception that’s fed by ambience and the presence of fewer frozen and processed foods. Millennials also think they eat healthier when someone else is cooking.

Symbols of better quality are popping up all over food service: Five Guys Burgers and Fries touts the fact that it has no freezers. Wendy’s CEO Emil Brolick told investors the chain wants nothing on its labels to look like “it came from a chemistry book.” And McDonald’s plans to offer side-order alternatives to fries, a move toward healthier options that consumers often see as higher quality. Back at UCLA, a health-focused dining hall took away fries, sodas and traditional desserts — and attendance remained high.

At the “Tastes of the World” conference in Massachusetts, chefs were way beyond that stage, talking instead about which restaurants are on the leading edge of healthy dining and how fuller flavor often means more nutrients. Whether you’re at UCLA or in an East Coast office tower, that’s the direction food culture and food service is headed.