By Emma Do
Photographed by Ryan Lee
I can’t believe I’m writing this out, but this is already my last Flipside interview. For the past six months, if you were looking for me, you’d have found me in the Media Centre, mulling over ways to make each issue special. And now, for this final one, it only feels right to return to where it all began—my very first pitch: interviewing the staff behind LSE’s residence halls. My best year living in London so far must have been at Carr Saunders, an undergraduate hall tucked away neatly in Fitzrovia, nestled between office buildings, quiet enough for a Sunday lay-in, but with lively dining gems and cafés also just five minutes down the street. I never realised how much I’d miss its catered dinners, from checking the dessert menu to getting excited over hash browns. So now, a year later, I returned to Carr-Saunders to sit down with Folake Sobogun, the assistant catering manager, to talk about what it takes to run the dining hall and how food, in its simplest form, builds a sense of community.
If you’ve ever lived at Carr-Saunders for the past two years or so, you have probably run into Folake. Her little office is just outside the sixth-floor lift, around the corner to the dining hall. She always smiles when she meets people and instantly strikes up a lighthearted conversation. When I came for the interview and mentioned how coming back to Carr Saunders felt nostalgic to me, she suddenly exclaimed, “So that’s why you look so familiar!”, and it completely took me by surprise, the way she puts so much effort into going beyond merely fulfilling this job. She truly loves what she’s doing.
Before delving into Folake’s role at LSE, we sat by the corner table on one of London’s rare sunny days, talking about her life and the many paths that had led her here. Now in her sixties and rocking the game, Folake has spent four decades living and working in London, holding a variety of roles before joining LSE. “I used to work in catering for a law firm; I’ve worked with the post office; I’ve worked at London Transport—so it’s been quite a journey,” she recalls. 14 years ago, she brought her expertise in catering to LSE, and even within this community, her journey has taken many forms. “I worked on campus before, at the fourth-floor restaurant in the Old Building, as well as at Garrick. But I’ve spent much more time in the residence halls—10 years at Bankside, then Roseberry, Passfield for a bit, and now here at Carr-Saunders.” Having worked across campus and residences, Folake has truly seen it all—the challenges, the changes, and the everyday life of LSE students.
Since the hall only does dinner catering, Folake’s work day doesn’t have to start ridiculously early, though she always comes in earlier to make sure everything runs smoothly. “I come in around 11, going over the menu and checking if we have enough ingredients. [The menu] is already planned for all halls, so that’s one less thing for me to worry about.” Folake explained. A bulk of her job, then, is to communciate to the catering team since they only receive menu information on the day to start cooking. “I need to let everyone know what they have to do for the day, plans for the salad, the main, sides, and desserts. We’ll then divide ourselves into smaller tasks, especially making sure we clean up as we go along to ensure efficiency. We finish at 9pm, so by the time I leave, it’s going to be half an hour later.”
Calculating the portions and making sure little goes to waste is also part of Folake’s job. Each hall has an initial number set, but the team can tweak it how they like, based on observation and feedback. “We actually don’t have many leftovers nowadays, people come for seconds, and the desserts usually run out. We pay more attention to adjusting the sides’ portions, but overall really try to minimise waste as we cook.”
The dining hall kitchen is smaller than what I expected, especially for a place that serves 200 students daily. Walking in for a quick photoshoot, we found ourselves instinctively stepping aside to wait for people to come through like a give-way system. Every inch of space is maximised, from neatly stacked trays to spotless counters, and despite the tight quarters, there’s no sense of chaos. Instead, the team moves with quiet efficiency, each task flowing seamlessly into the next. It’s a space that runs not on size, but on precision.
Folake also shared with me a project she’s working on at Carr-Saunders in tandem with other LSE halls: a rota system that allows students to step behind the counter and experience the prep process firsthand. “About 95% of the dishes are made from scratch, on the day, from 1 pm until 5.30pm, so we can start serving at 6pm sharp,” she explained. “The goal is to give students a glimpse into the effort behind each meal—not just how busy the kitchen g ets, but the dedication and teamwork that go into making it all happen. Apparently, Rosebery has started topick it up, and the students seem to be eager to get involved.”
From our conversation and the way Folake spoke about her work, it was clear that her years of experience—while invaluable—were only part of the story. More than anything, it’s her deep love for connecting with people and looking out for students that makes her so perfectly suited for this role. For Folake, this isn’t just a job. It’s a calling, woven into the fabric of her daily life and something she genuinely enjoys. Even before I had set my bag down, she was already looking after me—asking if I wanted a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, if I needed water or tissues because the sun was warming up the dining hall. It was a small gesture, but one that spoke volumes.
“I just like to see [students] and check on their well-being,” she explained. “Even if some are shyer than others, it takes nothing really to ask them, ‘How’s everything going for you?’” Over the years, she’s come to know countless students, forming quiet yet meaningful connections. “I know colleagues at Bankside who remember up to 500 students, so we can actually tell if you’re from the hall or not when someone cheekily tried to sneak their friend a tray at dinner without paying for it,” she lightly joked. That level of attention, though, is remarkable, I thought to myself.
“They might not know me by my name,” Folake added with a smile, “but we always say hello and exchange a few sentences whenever they pass by the office door.”
When I asked why she chose to stay in LSE halls for so long, Folake didn’t hesitate. “It’s the students. You get to know everyone from all sorts of backgrounds and cultures. The diversity makes LSE stand out. And the students bring forth their cuisine, their home dishes, what they like and dislike, so that we get to try out different recipes. You won’t know how there are so many intriguing meals out there and how crucial they are to students, particularly when they’re away from home, if you don’t have diversity.”
Catering for a broad palette, though, means that this job can also come with challenges. The biggest one, for Folake, is having to deal with allergies, as they can cause serious health complications. “In many ways, people’s lives are in our hands. There was an incident relating to an allergic reaction that had happened before, which was quite scary, so we must take things with caution. Otherwise, sometimes it’s the normal thing of feeling drained, but seeing students with a smile on their faces makes my day, always.”
Folake loves how students can work closely with staff at halls to create fun initiatives. “Apart from all the major events like Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day, or St Patrick’s Day that are planned by the catering team, we have students in here organising all sorts of fun workshops or cooking up a special dish from their home. I’ve always been fond of those workshops.”
“Christmas dinner is another favourite of mine,” Folake shared. “Not everybody celebrates Christmas, so it’s quite a scene to see students so open and excited to join”. I remembered vividly the evenings leading towards our Christmas break, the dining hall was decorated with all sorts of festive ornaments. There were Christmas crackers, smokey roast dinner with a hint of that savoury gravy, the little pigs in blankets, and sweet, warming Christmas pudding. It wasn’t about religion; it was about coming together, sharing stories over a cosy meal as winter quietly settled by the windowsill.
Food carries memories—the good, the bad, and everything in between. A humble space like this dining hall, run by a small but dedicated team and a manager who greets you with warmth each day, stands as a testament to the love and care that shape a community. You might have mixed feelings about the food sometimes—taste is subjective, after all. But when the time comes to pack your last box and return your room key, you’ll find yourself missing this place more than you expected.
