A food writer for Town and Country magazine arrived at Harvard just in time to sample the Spring Fling lunch served in the College's dining halls yesterday.

Marialisa Calta, a freelance writer working on a story about trends in college food, planned her first stop to coincide with yesterday's event, which marked the beginning both of spring-time and of the dining halls' gradual shift to lighter, warm weather foods.

Calta has targeted schools that are attempting innovations in college dining.

"Food in American culture is taking more of center stage. People are much more aware of what they eat," Calta said.

So how does the new, improved Harvard Dining Services strike her?

`Very Impressive'

"It's very impressive," Calta said. "The bread is very good. Most institutional settings serve terrible bread."

"I think I was very well qualified to do this article because [at Georgetown] I suffered through some of the worst food on the planet," Calta said. "We had mystery meat and army food."

Dining Services Director Michael P. Berry says he welcomes Calta's visit and thinks it's "great" that Harvard will be featured in Town and Country.

Berry said he expects the Harvard dining experience to "be right up there" in comparison to other schools surveyed.

Calta's tour of College eateries will include the University of lowa, Marlboro College in Vermont and Princeton University.