Come sit at the Knight’s Table

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kris Levasseur
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  There are many places for Airmen to eat a meal on base. From popular fast food restaurants to the commissary, making a decision can be difficult. If there's not a lot of time to decide what to do for lunch, why not go to RAF Lakenheath's Knight's Table dining facility. Hundreds of people eat at the Knight's Table every day. The Knight's Table provides three meals daily Monday through Friday with lunch being the busiest time of day.

The Knight's Table offers a relaxing atmosphere available to all of RAF Lakenheath servicemembers and Ministry of Defense personnel. "This is not just a chow hall like you had in basic training, it is a dining facility," said Master Sgt. Lawrence Stephens, 48th Services Squadron Knight's Table manager. "It's a place where you can sit and have a meal with your friends, or just relax and watch Television," he added.

The first thing that can be seen coming through the doors is a 25 item salad bar that includes the soup of the day. After going through the snack or main line, which has a choice of four entrées, including a vegetarian option, along with two starches and three vegetables, it is time to sit and eat.

There are many reasons for Airmen to eat at the Knight's table. Some go for the cost and some for the convenience, but others go for the health factor. "I choose to eat here because it is healthier than
most of the other options available," said Tech. Sgt. Penny Kos-Williams, 48th Security Forces Squadron.

The dining facility remains one of the least expensive choices available. "I prefer to eat at the dining facility because the food is just as good as the other food available on base and it is cheaper," said
Airman Basic Thor Andresen, 48th Munitions Squadron conventional munitions technician. The average cost of a meal at the dining facility is approximately $3 depending on the menu.

The 48th SVS spends many hours preparing for each meal. Hungry Airmen show up outside the dining facility as early as 6 a.m., so the staff has to be ready. "Some of the meals are prepared the day before due to the large volume of food that we need to make," said Sergeant Stephens. "Our morning shift comes in at 4:30 a.m. to start preparations for the breakfast meal and the afternoon shift comes in at 9:30 a.m. to start preparations for the short order line."

The Knight's Table serves a wide variety of foods. Items on the menu are determined by the Chief of Air Force Food Service, and by customer requests submitted through customer satisfaction cards.
Because of the demand for variety, the menu is always changing. Every 14 days the old menu is rotated out for a new menu. A new menu cycle is scheduled to start Feb. 1. Every Wednesday, the Knight's Table features a different ethnic food to help bring some variety to the dining facility. It offers Cajun, oriental, British, southern, Mexican and Italian foods.

The dining facility serves a variety of specialty meals. It serves a Mongolian feast every second Friday of the month, a seafood feast every second Wednesday, a salad taster every fourth Monday and a dessert extravaganza every third Thursday. In the past year, the 48th SVS won the 2006 Food Service Excellence Award, which put them in the running for the 2006 Air Force Hennessy Award of Excellence.

The Knight's Table's hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 6 to 8 a.m. for breakfast, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for lunch, and 3:30 to 6 p.m. for dinner. During weekends and holidays, the dining facility is open for brunch from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and for supper from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. With all the choices available, the Knight's Table can sometimes be overlooked, but for food with a wide variety of choices and a low price, it should still be an option to be considered