Ira Simon believes the future of dining on campus is bright. As the Resident Food Director at DU, Simon believes food is a powerful way to congregate people and is excited for DU’s new Community Commons dining space to function in that way. The student center and centralized dining hall will open at the start of winter quarter in January.
The Community Commons’ layout provides ample space to gather with friends, family or colleagues. On the first floor, there will be a full-service Starbucks in the corner of the building next to Ruffatto Hall. This level will also include a new station on campus called Natural, serving smoothies, acai bowls, wraps and salads.
Simon’s personal favorite part of the Community Commons is the Rebecca Chopp Grand Central Market on the second floor. This is what the designers call the ‘mega-Nagel’; it contains nine food stations much larger than those currently found in the Nagel dining hall.
Each food station is organized within four themed spaces in the central market; Brightside, The Hearth, Mountainview and Courtyard. Each of these spaces has unique characteristics such as the presence of a fireplace, large windows or a particular view of campus and the city.
When discussing the goals of the Rebecca Chopp Grand Central Market, Simon expresses that, “everything we are doing is about variety, being able to customize a meal that you want and sustainable purchasing.” Every station gives customers an opportunity to add or take away items based on their preferences and/or dietary restrictions. All of the food in this market is set up to be personalized and eaten either in one of the 700 available seats or taken to-go at your convenience.
The food choices are an around-the-world station with a rotating menu, a completely allergen-friendly zone, brick-oven pizza, build-your-own pasta, customizable Mongolian grill stir fry, a vegan and vegetarian station with options including Beyond Burgers, a grill offering sandwiches and burgers, a salad bar and a to-go section with pre-packaged options.
On the fourth story of the building, the rooftop houses happy hours and upscale lunch by reservation or walk-in. The lunch offers a variety of proteins and sides, and Simon believes this will be an excellent choice for students to take their parents to dinner or meet up with friends. If community members come back to the space from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., they can enjoy either alcoholic (if 21 years of age or older) or nonalcoholic beverages with free hors d’oeuvres.
Part of the excitement from Simon around these new additions to campus is that they “want students, graduate students, faculty and staff to all find something about the new space that attracts them.”
Students can purchase food from the Rebecca Chopp Grand Central Market through the block meal plans as well as flex, meal plan cash or credit card payment. Other food options in the building are also accessible by flex, meal plan cash or credit card. This gives everyone in the DU community access to the new resources, beyond those who live on campus.
For those who want a casual commitment to eat on campus, there will also be 10-block meal plans available. Along with using flex payment, this is the most cost-effective approach to eating in the new building.
The most important piece of information about this new dining is the change of menu format in the Community Commons. “The ambiance is about clean lines and no obstruction, so you can see through the whole thing and have lots of natural light. It is really about that experience,” Simon believes.
Menus for each food station will be on an app rather than an in-person display. Students and faculty are asked to download Bite University on their phones before returning to use the dining hall in the winter. This app will allow customers to look at the menu, as well as all allergen and nutrition information.
Since all dining will be centralized in the Community Commons, the current dining halls in Nelson, Nagel and Halls will undergo changes. All dining on campus will feature DU’s continued conscious efforts to promote sustainable purchasing. More information on this will be released in future articles.
Simon knows that the ability to open this new venue would not be possible without the “outstanding group of employees and dedicated management team” who are working hard to make this happen for everyone at DU. To learn more about Sodexo dining at DU, visit their website.
