News Releases 2009
LETU'S New Bon Appetit Dining Facility 'Corner Cafe' To Open March 23
Mon, Mar 23 2009
LeTourneau University will open its new “
Corner Café” dining facility for students, faculty and staff on Monday, March 23. Bon
Appétit, one of the premier restaurant-quality food service providers to private colleges across
the nation, is the university’s food service provided and was integrally involved in design and
construction of the new facility.
The new “Corner Café,” located in the
southeast corner of campus, seats 600 and features multi-level seating, two conference rooms for
small group lunch meetings, colorful interior décor, outdoor dining and flexible space to allow
students to use the facility as a gathering place during hours when food service is not in
operation.
Bon Appétit is known for its commitment to
healthy menu items, using fresh-from-scratch recipes and locally grown ingredients in artistically
appealing presentations with reasonable portion sizes. With its triple approach of healthy,
delicious and sustainable, all Bon Appétit restaurants and cafés around the country use healthy
cooking techniques to positively influence the daily food choices of diners.
The university’s coffee bar and grill, called “
The Hive,” located on the first floor of the R. G. LeTourneau Memorial Student Center, will
continue to provide alternative grill and sandwich fare.
Bon Appétit was founded as a catering company in 1987. It began
its “farm to fork” program for locally grown and organic food, supporting local farmers in 1999 and
launched “sustainable seafood” purchasing in 2002. It adopted a policy to reduce antibiotics in
chickens in 2003 and followed up with turkeys in 2005. Also in 2005, it launched its first “eat
local challenge” at its 400 locations across the country. The company moved to all “natural”
beef burgers in 2007, the same year it began its “low-carbon diet” initiative to make food choices
to help protect the earth and reverse the trend of global climate change. Bon Appétit has
more than 400 cafés in 28 states. Its first choice is to purchase seasonal and regional
produce form local farmers with a 150-mile radius, often served within 48 hours of harvest.
To see the story in the Longview News-Journal, click here
http://www.news-journal.com/hp/content/news/stories/2009/03/24/03242009_LETU_dining.html
To see a short video on the opening of LETU's Corner Cafe, click
here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP5o2mSjV8g
