Many students may have already noticed that Stevenson’s Exhibition Bar, which features delicious offerings such as fried rice and perogies, has welcomed back the weekend special and favorite remedy to last night’s hangover: the omelette.

Two years ago, the omelette bar consisted of two open fire stoves.  The serving line has been updated and now sports four shiny, chrome gas burners. Omelette chefs who used to sweat profusely over the heat of propane burners look a great deal cooler while flipping an omelette, no doubt due to that nifty-looking ventilation hood, equipped with a recently installed sprinkler system.

Last year, the Oberlin Fire Department shut down the omelette bar after a routine fire inspection deemed the area in violation of fire regulations. Fire Chief Douglas Kirkin explained that open fire grease cooking requires ventilation and fire suppression systems in event of a fire according to Oberlin fire laws, dictated by Ohio fire laws. The fire department advised Residential Education and Dining Services to modify cooking stations or otherwise suspend its use.

“Grease fires are considered class three and are the most intense. They give off lots of heat that can cause fire to spread rapidly. In the event of fire, there was nothing to stop it from spreading,” said Kirkin.

“The Fire Department tries to be conscious of workers and dining hours, so we don’t inspect during meal times.”  He continued, “From my understanding, the devices used were portable.  When we came to inspect, the devices were not present during dining, a time when…the devices were in use and against code.”

Three years ago, a similar situation arose in Dascomb, in which grease and oil cooking occurred in an unprotected area, violating fire regulations. The College updated the area at the OFD’s request.

“[The] College is fully aware of fire risks due to proactive fire safety moves. I think that someone thought along the lines that the risk was not as great enough to warrant a change. Maybe it was judgment call or an oversight. All I can say is when it was brought to their attention, they fixed the issues,” Kirkin said.

“I don’t know if I’d make a direct relationship between Dascomb and Stevenson, other than operations were both conducted on a serving line counter top,” she continued. “Nevertheless, it involved some gas cooking, and would need a suppression system.”

“We never perceived a similarity. When the need for a hood was brought our attention at Dascomb, we installed it. He comes [to] give us advice, [and] then we follow,” said Gross.

In addition to being a potential fire hazard, the lack of ventilation was arguably a health hazard.  The staff claims that they had trouble breathing while cooking over the propane burners; this discomfort persisted even after they had left the area.  However, no workers reported this to a supervisor.

“I’m not a health and safety person, but those concerns were never brought to my attention,” said Gross.       

Regardless of the reasons for the omelette’s departure and subsequent return, students welcomed it back with open arms, since many students found last year’s alternative, the breakfast burrito, quite unappealing.

While the burrito should be praised for its efficiency in its quick preparation and easy portability, it was hard-pressed to win public favor.

“I’m not fond of having all my breakfast in one,” said first-year Sarah Mundell.

“[You] can’t compress so many different foods into one amountamation. It defies the laws of physics,” said first-year Ben Fram.  “I’ve had one before. I didn’t like it too much.”

However, the Review was able to find one proponent of the breakfast burrito: “It’s not a Cali burrito, but it is a burrito nonetheless, so its pretty enjoyable,” said sophomore Sam Goodman. “I’m enjoying it, but I’m all right with letting it go.”