Vita Nova takes honors for ‘best lunch buffet’

3:57 p.m., June 22, 2004--The best lunch buffet in Delaware is operated by UD students, according to Delaware Today magazine.

Vita Nova, the student-run restaurant in the Trabant University Center, has won Delaware Today’s 2004 Best of Delaware Award for best lunch buffet.

In operation since 1996, the restaurant is a learning laboratory for Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management majors who rotate through 17 different jobs there. One day’s restaurant manager might be the next day’s sous chef.

Everything at Vita Nova is made from scratch by students—from breads to desserts.

Vita Nova also provides learning experiences for other majors—music majors often provide dining music and information systems students have installed state-of-the-art point-of-sale systems so waiters can input orders instantly on hand-held terminals, and paper guest evaluation slips will soon be replaced by small computerized tablets on the table tops.

Julie E. Peroutka, director of restaurant operations, said the Delaware Today award is something the students can call their own. “They’re the ones who really deserve the credit,’’ she said. “There are only four of us who work here full-time as instructors, and everything else is run by students.”

Vita Nova, sometimes booked months in advance for special occasions, is open only during the fall and spring semester when the largest number of students is on campus.

The luncheon buffet, priced at $10.95 last semester, always includes a soup, salad, specialties, entrees plus a carving station and desserts. The menu changes daily, but a typical meal includes dishes such as peppered spinach and clam soup, couscous with baby peas, sugar maple smoked trout with capers and onions and hickory-smoked turkey breast.

Peroutka said restaurant bookings grew slowly after Vita Nova’s 1996 opening but word-of-mouth was good. Now the 60-seat restaurant is continually sold out. Although callers often can get same-day reservations, some popular dates are booked months ahead.

Darden Bistro

A new 18-seat tapas-style dining area will open for dinner next fall, dubbed the Darden Bistro in honor of Darden Restaurants, the company that owns Red Lobster and Olive Garden and contributed $100,000 to construct the additional area where students will learn to pair foods and wines.

Peroutka said an integral part of the Darden Bistro will be the use of The Copeland Vinotek, a redwood-paneled, state-of-the-art wine cellar donated in 2001 by Tatiana and Gerret Copeland of Greenville, owners of Bouchaine Vineyards in Napa Valley, Calif.

"The gift from the Darden Foundation for the Darden Bistro at Vita Nova will complement the Copeland Vinotek, and afford our HRIM students and guests a wonderful opportunity to learn more about wine and cuisine pairing, and the appellation and culture from where the grapes are grown,’’ Fred DeMicco, professor and ARAMARK Chair of UD’s HRIM program, said. “This also will provide our students with another management educational venue in a hospitality business and real-world retail operation."

At lunchtime, the bistro area will be used for overflow seating for buffet diners, Peroutka said.

Vita Nova will reopen for lunch on Tuesday, Sept. 7, and for dinner on Wednesday, Sept. 8.

Article by Kathy Canavan

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