University's shinytime stove works in an apartment, well it USED TO. I've built slum apartments that offered "3hots and a cot" to the very poor. Just like college they could go to the dinning room and the nice cook was almost always fixing food.
BUT NOW: the cook just stands there, NOT serving food
I don't remember having to have a mod, just the right stove (and the counters to put the food on).

You do need a mod for the NPC to show up on lots that are not dorms.

@grammapat Try this mod:
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/s....html#msg344722

They work in Downtown subhoods on community lots without a mod. No idea about Shopping Districts or other subhood types. In base hoods, the cook doesn't even spawn for the stove (in my game).

I wonder also, what kind of kitchen counters the OP uses - for me, for example, the counters that came with OFB (the fancy store-looking ones) didn't work for the dorm cafeteria stove.

This patch (scroll down a bit) will make it work on any lot:

https://simlogical.com/sl/Sims2Pages/Sims2_Eating.htm

I normally use the counters that came with Uni - the cook will only place meals on the counter islands, not on the countertop. Cannot see why it would not work for other counter tops, though.

The cook will only place meals on counter islands, not on countertops (if that helps).

The patch to use the shiny stove (shiny stove NPC anywhere patch) on any lot is here (scroll down a bit):

https://simlogical.com/sl/Sims2Pages/Sims2_Eating.htm

THANKS EVERYONE!! I think maybe what I did before was put the stove in a SUB-hood (business), where it does work. But what I did this time was put it in a main hood - and not a normal residential lot, but an APARTMENT. So got the mod from Simlogical.

And now for something totally different:
I got the mod "memory controller", looks like 3 little candles. It seems to offer a lot of good/bad memories - but some of the memories are for things I've never seen. Vaguely remember someone talking about these "secret" memories that Maxis "hid"..
So if I give a sim a lot of BAD memories --does that actually DO anything?
Yep it's all vague..
I need a nap
and pie

Only saw this now and I have my 2 cents.
I thought long and hard about making hood with sims in it for upload at one (fortunately gone) stage - but settled for an empty one in the end.
That is where I thought the mod could come in handy, to help with establishing the storyline. It does seem to me as if it is the best purpose for it?

I guess anyone can decide to add a bunch of memories to new CAS sims (but I am far too lazy to do that). It probably could be handy if all your sims wake up with amnesia one day? (Well, I guess one can also give them all amnesia and observe the consequences)