Restaurant reopens
Renovated Vita Nova campus restaurant reopens in Trabant University Center
5:03 p.m., Sept. 2, 2014--Vita Nova, the University of Delaware’s student-operated gourmet restaurant, reopened Tuesday, Sept. 2, following an extensive summer renovation that included a complete renovation of the dining area.
“The old space was well cared for and well loved, but we needed to bring it into the 21st century,” says Sheryl Kline, professor and chairperson of the Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management (HRIM).
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Indeed, the newly renovated Vita Nova now boasts a show kitchen, private dining room, pizza oven, and advanced state-of-the-art technology, such as LED-mood lighting, sustainable bamboo tabletops, and induction cooking technology, in which students warm up buffet meals without an open flame.
The restaurant, which first opened in 1996, is the restaurant management classroom for all HRIM major students, giving them first-hand experience in all aspects of running a fine dining operation, with students rotating daily through 17 different positions that range from handling social media to cooking in the show kitchen to managing the entire restaurant.
It is the strong emphasis on management and leadership development that helps the department boast a 92 percent job placement rate before graduation, according to Kline. “This is an unparalleled education,” she adds.
Students and alumni agree. In fact, the renovations, which exceeded $500,000, were funded by the Harcourt M. and Virginia W. Sylvester Foundation in honor of 2014 HRIM graduate Clare M. Malfitano. Malfitano’s mother Jayne is president of the foundation, and her parents made the gift as a result of her stellar experience in the program.
“We felt compelled to do something meaningful for the department that has done so much for our daughter and other HRIM students,” says Jayne Malfitano, who, along with her husband, served as a past member of the University's Parents Fund Council.
For faculty and students, their gift “takes Vita Nova into the future.”
“We are so proud to work and teach in this space, and I can already see more creative energy in our approach to trying new things,” says Kline, citing new menu items (including fresh and seasonable items from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources) and a greater emphasis on sustainability.
To make reservations for lunch, dinner or in the new bistro room, please call 302-831-0500 or email vitanova@udel.edu. Reservations can also be made online via OpenTable.
About Vita Nova
Vita Nova is the signature student-operated restaurant, which is part of the Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management at the University of Delaware. It features a "Best of Delaware" award winning buffet for lunch, fine dining for dinner, the Darden Bistro featuring a theater menu, and the Copeland Vinotek, the beautiful redwood-paneled wine cellar.
The lunch buffet is $14.95. The four-course fine dining dinner experience price ranges from $30 to $42, which includes choice of appetizer, choice of salad, intermezzo, entree selection, and dessert.
The Bistro Bar and the Bistro Dining Room features various wines by the glass, a three-course Theatre Menu and a small plates menu, for a light fare dining experience.
Vita Nova has a presence on Instagram and Facebook.
About the Department of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management
The Department of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management has an outstanding reputation for hospitality business education on campus and around the world. Its experience-driven learning and focus on the business of hospitality (at Vita Nova and Marriott’s Courtyard Newark at UD) prepares students to distinguish themselves as successful leaders and entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry.
About the Parents Fund
The Parents Fund creates a community of parents actively engaged in their students’ college experience and provides the primary vehicle to philanthropically support the campus. The UD Parents Fund supports student life programs and activities not covered by tuition experiences that transform students and prepare them for a lifetime of success.