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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Tasting Something New: Go/Middbites

You might have seen it scrawled on a Bi-Hall chalkboard. Maybe on the one in front of Proctor. Go/middbites, a sweet (and savory!) website combines the convenience of go/menu with the creative content of student-created recipes in one sleek, iPhone-friendly layout.

But what exactly sets Middbites apart from go/recipes or go/proctordoctor?

According to creator Jeremy Ho ’14, Middbites is a food-centered “social media platform built specifically for Middlebury students to create and share recipes.”

“Anyone can easily sign up and immediately start posting or giving feedback on dining hall creations and menu items, as well,” Ho said. “It was created to be not only a resource, but a social network for all things food related at Middlebury College. In addition, it is integrated with the dining hall menus, making it a one-stop location for all the best bites at Midd.”

The inspiration for Middbites came from Ho’s love of food and web design.

The website “was something I wanted: the future of recipe-building and a place where people could share those [recipes],” he said. “I really like food. I liked learning to cook after coming to college. I think it’s really cool that our dining halls have a lot of options and give you room to be creative.”

Although he has taken computer science classes at Middlebury, Ho attributed most of his web savvy to the web itself.

“The cool thing about web development is that people who do it are on the web, so there’s a ton of information on the web,” he explained. “You basically learn from the thing you’re producing. I [also] interned at a company called Sports Vision. What I built for them was a little web app, so I had some exposure [to web design].”

However, this website wasn’t made to satisfy every Middkid’s taste buds.

“Since I really just stick with what’s there [served in the dining hall], I couldn’t relate to it,” said Maisie Ogata ’14. “But, I think it’s a great idea. I feel like there’s a ton of people who like making stuff. A couple years ago, some kid made someone else a chocolate ganache with crystallized orange peel in the dining hall!”

Ho also acknowledged the importance of reaching out to the culinary niche at Middlebury in order for his website to be successful.

“There’s a certain niche group that would really be into creating the recipes. Those are the people I’m trying to reach, and those are the people that I think will drive the generated content of the site.”

Students like Naila Jahan ’15, a self-professed Proctor panini lover, were impressed by the Middbites website.

“It’s cool how Middbites has that interface where you can like recipes and comment on them. I’d probably use Middbites [more than Proctor Doctor] because it’s more concise, and I don’t have to scroll through other Facebook posts. I also think they have a really cute logo.”

Hungry to try one of the twelve recipes but not sure where to start?

“Right now, my favorite recipe is the Thai Peanut sauce. I think sauce recipes are like hidden gems because not a lot of people make them, and they can really spice up or transform your meals,” Ho said.

If you checked out the site and liked it, but didn’t loved it, don’t put down your fork just yet. Despite having worked on the website for “a few hundred hours,” Ho says Middbites is still a work in progress.

“I’m happy so far with it, but there’s definitely stuff I want to add to it,” Ho said. Like nit-picky stuff—a lot of it is little design things—but also some core features that I’m really excited about.”


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