FRESH & FETA IS THE MEDITERRANEAN CONCEPT INSIDE VIRGINIA TECH’S NEW DINING HALL.
reducing measures are built into the facility, and even employees t-shirts are made with sustain- ably sourced cotton and sol- vent-free inks. “This school was created for the industry by the industry,” said Brian Kleiner, director of the My- ers-Lawson School of Construc- tion. The spaces inside allow for a flexible, forward-thinking ap - proach to different teaching and learning styles, complete with open collaboration zones. And the new dining space, Perry Place, with 600 seats and a set of surefire concepts, in - cluding a full-service Chick-fil-A. Signature venues include AMP Coffee, a sustainably focused coffeehouse; Smoke, a BBQ joint (complete with smokers); Solar - ex, an all-day breakfast diner; Veloces, classic Italian; Trax Deli
for sandwiches; Fresh & Feta for Mediterranean cuisine and Ad- dison’s Provision, a grab-and-go spot. According to Grove, Smoke has been the most crazy-popular concept with a consistent “line a mile long” for its to-die-for beef brisket, pulled pork, smoked tur - key and more. The dining team researched barbecue regions and came up with a nice hybrid barbecue style that borrows mainly from Texas and Kansas City. The all-day diner, Solarex, was the students’ idea, Grove says. “Solarex came from the stu- dents,” he says. “They said, ‘I re- ally want breakfast all day long,’ and they also want Mediterra- nean food, and of course they like smoked meats, too, so you take that and that’s what we did.”
Rambutan is noteworthy be- cause it’s a one-of-a-kind Mai Pham original concept. Pham’s familiar Star Ginger concepts are found on quite a few campuses around the country, but Rambu- tan is completely new. “We went to Mai and said, ‘We don’t want a Star Ginger; we want a new brand, maybe a hybrid with a few twists.” A sticking point with student feedback has shown a lack of au - thentic Asian food, so Grove sees Rambutan as a great solution. And, as the school year progress- es, students have found their own favorite concepts. “Every concept has a little following,” Grove says.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DARREN VAN DYKE, PHOTOGRAPHER/ VIDEOGRAPHER
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