Hotel South Pole (3) - the dining room

I like a restaurant with a view.  One of my favorites is the Cliff House in San Francisco, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  Another one is the Mountain House Restaurant, nestled in the redwood forest on the ridge between the Bay Area and the Ocean.  Well, I have not been disappointed here at the South Pole Station.  The dining room -we call it the galley- has lots of windows, all of them featuring one of the most surreal, unobstructed, and unique views that one could imagine, including the Geographic South Pole and some of our scientific stations.  Getting a window seat is never a problem.

The view from the galley

The galley can sit approximately 100 people at a time.  The large LCD screens hanging from the ceiling constantly display weather conditions, flight arrivals, and satellite connectivity.  The galley is also where we gather for the Sunday night science lectures - last Sunday we learnt about cosmic microwave radiation, the big bang, and the origin of the universe from John Carlstrom, from the Fermi Institute of the University of Chicago, the father of the 10-mt South Pole Telescope,

It is nice for a restaurant to have a view, but it is so much better if the food is good, too.  And the food here is absolutely excellent, starting from the ingredients, to the preparation, to the variety of the selections, and to the friendliness of the kitchen staff.  We have several cooks, and even a baker who makes specialty breads, pastries, and desserts.  The dining assistants and cooks know us by name, they always have a smile on, and know our favorite dishes (tofu scrambles with fresh vegetables for me in the morning, instead of eggs, liquorice tea in the evening).  They do not make me miss home!

A couple of days ago was mexican dinner night.  Notice the fresh tomales, rice, beans, corns, fresh vegetables all the way to the right, and fruit and chocolate dessert on the top.

We have a wide selection of drinks, too: milk, coffee, hot water with  lots of different teas, and fruit juices.  At the far right is the ice cream.