While Cornell is tightening its fiscal belt, thousands of students loosened their belts last week for authentic Thai dishes — everything from green curry with prawns to sticky rice with mangoes — at the Cross Country Gourmet dinners.

Although the recession has called for budget reductions across all units at Cornell, CCG’s organizers stressed that it has not greatly affected the series funded by Cornell Dining. The only significant change was the elimination of the sit-down event that traditionally took place a week before the buffet style dinners. These events, in which reservations were taken and food was served à la carte as in a real restaurant, were eliminated due to declining attendance and budgetary pressures, according to Richard Anderson, assistant director of Cornell Dining.

The buffet style dinners, on the other hand, appear to remain popular, according to Anderson. Last week’s program saw a similar turnout compared to last fall’s, serving 833 guests at Okenshields and 1,388 guests at Robert Purcell Marketplace Eatery, compared to last fall’s numbers of 647 and 1,361, respectively.

Although a budget breakdown of this year’s program is not available at the moment, Anderson expects the event to break even. Profit-making is not CCG’s goal, he added. Rather, the series is part of Cornell Dining’s mission to educate students about authentic cuisines of different cultures. It also increases the skills and knowledge of the dining staff.

This year, the series has also introduced a new model not seen in recent years. Traditionally, two Cornell chefs would travel to the selected restaurant to sample the food, learn the recipes and bring their new knowledge and skills back to Cornell.

This year however, Chef Chai Siriyarn, owner of Marnee Thai Restaurant, personally traveled from San Francisco to Ithaca to work with Cornell’s dining staff, according to Chef Steve Miller, senior executive chef of Cornell Dining. This new model strengthens the program by allowing all 10 Cornell chefs to be trained, according to Miller. Working alongside Cornell chefs, Siriyarn was able to guide the preparations on site, so that “every item was agreed upon every step of the way,” Miller said.

The new model also has the added benefit of being more sustainable, since it requires only one person to travel, according to Miller.

During the dinner, guests were able to interact with the chef, who was available to answer questions and talk about the food. Miller said that he looks forward to continuing using this model in future CCGs.

Besides satisfying the taste buds of students, CCG provides benefits for the participating restaurants as well.

As the chef and owner of a small restaurant, Siriyarn said that he wanted to have “experience in working [on a] large scale,” and the “challenge of serving thousands of people.”

The series also helps restaurants promote their business, as current Cornell students could become their future customers.

“Whenever I’ve gone to any of these restaurants [from CCG], I’ve run into Cornell alumni,” Anderson said, pointing to the success of the series in helping restaurants attract customers.

Miller said that while Ithaca is not “the food Mecca of America,” the CCG series creates an opportunity for the Cornell dining staff to work with a skilled master chef. Through the programs, Cornell chefs have “learned techniques firsthand that they will be able to incorporate into skills of serving the students,” Anderson said.