University Dining is launching an “Eat Local” promotion this week that will bring a variety of new culinary experiences to dining guests and also help support local businesses. Once or twice a month, a local restaurant or local provider of food and beverages, will serve some of their most popular items in the Restaurants at the Top of the CRUC as part of the regular meal service. The Dining team reimburses the local business for the products served, and also provides a little bit extra to help cover some of the labor costs. The restaurant prepares the food in their own kitchens with their own staff so that the dishes will be a true representation of the food they serve in their restaurants. They’ll then be given a platform in the dining room where they can serve their dishes and talk with guests about their food and dining establishments.
Many local eateries are hidden gems, just waiting to be discovered by our University community. The “Eat Local” promotion will help them get noticed! It will also bring some new and very distinctive tastes and flavor profiles into our campus dining program. The first “Eat Local” event is Thursday, January 25th, and features Better4You Juices, owned by Claudia and Patrick Barnes. Patrick’s personal experience with serious health issues inspired Claudia to experiment with a variety of cold-pressed juices, until she came up with all-natural juice blends that would meet Patrick’s nutritional needs, be easy to swallow, and, most importantly, taste great! Her juices were so successful that they eventually decided to open a business so they could share their Better4You juices with everyone.
Claudia and Patrick will be serving several of their juice blends at the Showcase station at the Top of the CRUC between 11am and 1pm on Thursday. The next “Eat Local” event will be on February 21st, featuring Cool Cat Cupcakes during lunch. Several other local eateries will be coming to the Top of the CRUC throughout the semester. Details will be available on the Dining website, or by contacting Dining@UMW.edu.
