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    Take a look inside the Paris Olympics dining hall, featuring a massive salad bar and TikTok-famous chocolate muffins

    By Talia Lakritz,

    1 day ago

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3Z5f0z_0uqcjG9A00

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=00RYJ1_0uqcjG9A00
    The salad bar in the Olympic Village dining hall.
    • The Olympic Village's dining hall is set to serve over 1 million meals during the Games.
    • Athletes have been filming TikToks about the food, and reviews have been mixed.
    • This story is part of " Road to Paris ," a series chronicling athletes' and spectators' experiences at the Olympic Games.

    In the 2024 Olympic Village , dining-hall cooks race to keep up with athletes' appetites.

    Sodexo Live, the official catering company of the Paris Olympics, is set to serve over 1 million meals to athletes from 208 countries and territories over the course of the Olympic Games.

    Take a look inside the dining hall where Olympians fuel up for their competitions.

    The dining hall in the Olympic Village serves up to 40,000 meals a day, according to the Olympics' official website.
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1DTlao_0uqcjG9A00
    The Olympic Village dining hall in Paris.

    The 46,000-square-foot building in Saint-Denis was once an electrical power plant, The New York Times reported.

    Bottles of hand sanitizer are stationed at the entrance of the dining hall.
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1O7tf6_0uqcjG9A00
    Hand-sanitizer stations in the Olympic Village dining hall.

    The dining hall is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

    Charles Guilloy, the executive chef of the Olympic Village, oversees a team of 200 cooks.
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0h3Fkp_0uqcjG9A00
    Charles Guilloy with Tony Estanguet, the French president of the organizing committee for the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics in the Olympic Village dining hall.

    Guilloy is the executive chef of Sodexo Live.

    He told the BBC that chefs in the Olympic Village were "going to be a bit like athletes," racing to prepare food for 15,000 Olympians.

    Four categories of food are served in the Olympic Village: French, Asian, Afro-Caribbean, and "world cuisine."
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=32mRXm_0uqcjG9A00
    The first lady of Singapore dining with Singapore's athletes in the Olympic Village.

    Foods that comply with religious dietary practices, such as kosher and halal, are also available to athletes.

    A salad bar features over 30 options, but no avocados.

    Guilloy considered the sustainability of different foods while designing the menu, telling The New York Times that avocados weren't offered because they're "imported from a great distance and consume a lot of water."

    Crates of grab-and-go fruit are also available to Olympians.
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1fRk6q_0uqcjG9A00
    Crates of fruit at the Olympic Village dining hall.

    About 30% of the food served in the Olympic Village dining hall is organic, according to Olympics.com .

    After the Games began, organizers brought in more eggs and meat because of athletes' high demand for protein.
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3U1C4P_0uqcjG9A00
    One of many food-service stations.

    As part of the event's sustainability efforts, 40% of the Olympic Village offerings are vegetarian or plant-based, according to Olympics.com.

    Athletes, however, wanted more meat.

    Étienne Thobois, the CEO of the Paris Games' organizing committee, said that the dining hall added over 700 kilograms, or about 1,543 pounds, of eggs and 1 ton of meat to meet the athletes' needs, Reuters reported.

    "Certain products, such as eggs and grilled meats, are particularly popular among athletes, so their quantities were increased, in agreement with Paris 2024," a representative for Sodexo Live previously told Business Insider . "Since then, the quantities offered for these products were adapted accordingly and have been sufficient to meet all needs."

    In an effort to minimize waste, the soda and juice fountains stock only reusable cups.
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4cJB1J_0uqcjG9A00
    No single-use plastic cups in the Olympic Village.

    The dining hall contains 200 drink dispensers, with water, soda, and orange juice on tap.

    Smaller dining rooms are decorated with plants and artfully mismatched chairs.
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3OSyqs_0uqcjG9A00
    A dining room in the Olympic Village.

    The complex contains a total of 3,500 seats.

    Some athletes have been posting reviews of the food on TikTok.
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1InCQx_0uqcjG9A00
    Members of the German Olympic team in the dining hall.

    Aleah Finnegan, a gymnast from the Philippines, said in a TikTok video that the food was "good" but "not really seasoned."

    Others can't get enough. Henrik Christiansen, a swimmer on Norway's Olympic team, posted a series of TikTok videos proclaiming his love for the dining hall's chocolate muffins. He jokingly declared himself "the Olympic muffin man" and called the baked goods "the single greatest thing about the Olympic Village so far."

    Read the original article on Business Insider
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