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a sustainability and entertainment aspect to it. There is also a For students seeking a late-night dining option, there is The
competition, because your friend can hop onto the one next Grotto, which features what Houle calls an eclectic menu.
to you and you can see who blends it the fastest.” “One thing the students wanted was tater tots, and since we
The idea for Curry Road, one of the most popular new have no fryers in the entire facility, we have been quite suc-
venues, came out of experiences at C4C. “We saw the growing cessful using combi ovens for our students. They have been
popularity of curries,” said Houle. “However, there is always extremely happy. We do burgers down there. We are looking
the stigma around curries that they are always something from into bringing some other options, including a really different
India. But curries are from around the world. We wanted to style of Ramen. So far the students have really taken to that
concentrate on a place that would focus on curries from the area as their own and there isn’t any other late-night option
top of India all the way down to the South Pacific.” in that vicinity.”
Service at Curry Road is based on the “build-your-own” The facility also features a catering kitchen. “We have
model popular at brands like Qdoba and Chipotle. “You choose a multipurpose room that can seat about 500 lecture-style
from rice, rice noodles or salad and choose from three proteins, and about 270 for a sit-down dinner on 5-foot rounds,” said
you choose from different curry sauces and toppings,” he said. Friese. “We have a full catering kitchen that can support that
“We wanted to make it as customizable for the students as operation, inclusive of a small dish room and a large combi
possible. At the end of the line we have a refrigerated Lazy oven and a four-burner with induction and a grill. They have
Susan for different chutneys and raitas and different toppings, a tilt-skillet that supports that operation.”
as well. BSI [a Denver, Colo., -based manufacturer] supplied The catering kitchen will also serve as a safety net if
that to us.” something goes wrong with the main venues. “I have a kitchen
The Grange provides comfort food, including American downstairs I can use and not necessarily be out of business,”
favorites like macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and he said.
sliders. “We have a Southern Pride smoker and rotisserie,” Village Center was designed with several sustainability
said Houle. “We wanted the one end of our Grange to be a elements, including Energy Star rated equipment, low-flow
regional barbecue station, so we are looking at maybe doing water fixtures and the maximization of daylight.
Texas barbecue one day and the next day maybe doing some The facility features the first biodigester on campus, from
Carolina barbecue.” EnviroPure Systems. The aerobic food-waste decomposition
The facility also features a demo/teaching kitchen, which system rapidly eliminates food waste and converts it into grey
will be used occasionally. “What they are intended for is re- water for disposal into the municipal sewage system. “We
ally for us to help our students with life skills,” he said. “We have a very close connection to the city,” said Friese. “We
are working on programs now with our registered dietitian in lobbied pretty hard to make this happen, and by the time we
Health Services to start developing cooking classes to teach were done explaining what this machine can do, the city was
our students life skills. We have a slot for 18 different stations. pretty excited, but at the same time, they have pretty rigor-
They can go and get hands-on experience cooking, cutting ous standards as to what we can put down the drain. We are
and using knives and learning how to fend for themselves monitoring that right now, and if it is successful, I may take
after leaving campus.” it into other operations on campus.”
The space was designed to attract attention. “It is nice So far, students love the new Village Center, from the
because the teaching kitchen is part of the dining room,” said community amenities to the food. “We wanted to provide
Houle. “We didn’t wall it off. We wanted that interaction with the variety and authenticity for the community,” said Houle.
people coming in. If there is a cooking class going on, we “Customization was really big. You can come in here and
wanted students to be interested in what is happening. Maybe should be able to find something you want to eat. It might
they couldn’t get into that class today, but maybe it would not all be off of one station, but there are plenty of stations
spark some interest in going out for the next one.” around for you to find plenty of things to eat.”
In addition to the cooking classes, the station also serves —OCH
as a research and development kitchen. “Our chefs can create
items and have students sitting right there at the counter give
instant feedback,” he said. “It is also for us to bring in visiting
chefs. My staff gets tired of me and my chefs talking to them,
but we want to bring in other people as well.”
Peaks, the dessert station, features traditional desserts,
including soft-serve frozen yogurt. “We have also been
looking at different desserts themselves,” said Houle.
“Not so much stealth health, because we want to be
up front about what we are putting in the desserts.
But we wanted alternative desserts. We are really
pushing our beet brownies there, which are actually a
great seller. We are pushing our applesauce-kale white
cake down there as well. It pushed our bakers to step
outside of their comfort zone. Everybody loves carrot
cake, but there is nothing really nutritious about carrot
cake. We are trying to figure out our customers’ threshold of
sweetness and what they are willing to try. It has been interest-
ing seeing some of those things coming out of the bakery.”

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