He’s visited over 300 campuses (about 25 of them in Canada), and Thompson Rivers University stayed in his mind.

So much so, that he specifically mentioned the campus’s beauty in an interview published in this week’s Maclean’s magazine, “Big Man on Campuses” (Nov 14/05 p. 122).

Steve Lake, who visited the campus when he came through Kamloops on a Rocky Mountaineer tour, visits universities as a hobby.

“We stopped in Kamloops, and I said, ‘do you have a university here? They said yes, so I hopped in a cab and came up to take a look around,” he said.

“Unfortunately, it was about 6 o’clock at night, so I wasn’t able to try out your cafeteria, but the campus was very beautiful.”

TRU’s Culinary Arts Centre cafeteria, the only campus cafeteria listed in the Where to Eat in Canada restaurant guide, features entrees prepared by Culinary Arts students, but is only open for breakfast and lunch.

Accolades, the restaurant and bistro operated by Culinary Arts is open Tuesday through Friday, usually from the middle of September until Christmas and from the middle of January until May. Reservations are requred; please call after 3:00 P.M. (250) 828-5354 on the above opening days.

Lake intends to combine travel with visits to university campuses with a goal of visiting 500 campuses.

For more information, please contact Steve Lake at 702-876-6972 or email.