UB Campus Dining and Shops (CDS) will be bringing international flavor to campus with the newly named Crossroads Culinary Center.
The project is estimated to cost more than $9 million, according to Raymond Kohl, marketing manager of UB Campus Dining and Shops.
Construction for the new dining center started last summer.
"It's the same location [as the former Red Jacket Dining Center], and it's a build-out," Kohl said. "Construction began last May, once the semester was over. A date [for opening] hasn't been set yet, and we're waiting on final dates from the construction company."
The new dining center will seat approximately 650 guests at a time, and CDS expects to serve 1,800 to 2,000 guests each day, according to Kohl.
CDS held a naming contest on Facebook for the new dining center. In keeping with the international marketplace theme, it chose the name "Crossroads Culinary Center" from the 300 contest entries received. The Student Advisory Board chose the name on behalf of CDS.
Crossroads Culinary Center, or C3 for short, will mimic an international marketplace. The dining hall will be located in Ellicott, and it is expected to open in early Fall 2012.The winning entry came from Ariel Ruggeri, a senior marketing major, who won a meal plan for the Fall 2012 semester in return. In addition, she will be the first guest to enter the dining center when it opens, and a plaque will be placed inside acknowledging her contribution.
"I chose the name Crossroads to represent the new dining center because I thought it embraced what a dining center is," Ruggeri said in a press release. "When students go to dine, often they eat with their friends, but they also cross paths with many of [the] other people they know."
The Facebook page for the contest also included conceptual drawings for the new dining center. C3 is designed around the theme of an international marketplace. It will bring together a variety of different cuisines, providing students with a more extensive range of dining options.
"After viewing the dining center plans, I thought [of] Crossroads because [there] are so many different stations you can eat at," Ruggeri said in the press release. "In a way, it is literally a crossroads when you're trying to decide which station you will eat at."
The dining area will be divided into different food stations, each with its own distinct menu selections. There will be a Deli Station; a Vegetarian Station; the Brazilian Churrascaria, which will have "meats over a rotisserie;" a Wokery for "authentic Chinese cuisine;" a Pho Station, offering "traditional Vietnamese dishes;" an Italian station; and the American Comfort zone, which will have "many American fare items," according to the CDS website.
C3 is an all-you-can-eat-style dining hall, and the center will set a new standard for sustainability in dining at UB, according to the press release. The kitchen will feature energy-efficiency equipment, and all food scraps (pre and post-consumer) will be composted on-site. The cooking oil used in food production will be recycled locally into biodiesel fuel.
Ruggeri said she has had a great experience with the dining options and dining halls on campus, and she still enjoys the options even though she does not live on campus.
"The March?(c)-style kitchen area offers diners a wide selection of entrees from various stations in an all-you-care-to eat format," Kohl said. "C3 will be an entirely new experience for guests than previous dining centers here at UB."
Additional Reporting by News Editor Rebecca Bratek
Email: news@ubspectrum.com
