By Carmen Bourlon, Senior Staff Writer
Students who want to try a new restaurant might not have to travel any further than the cafeteria, according to Student Government Association officials.
“OKC Taste The Town,” a new program put together by SGA, will involve Sodexo hosting different chefs from the Oklahoma City area, said John Riesenberg, SGA president.
The chefs will work in the cafeteria preparing one or more dishes from their restaurant’s menu. Students will be able to use their meal plans to enter the cafeteria or if they don’t have a meal plan the students can pay $7.86. The food will be donated, along with the chef’s time, Riesenberg said.
Officials estimate that the program will begin in October, but no restaurants are on board yet, so officials haven’t set an official starting date for the program. The goal of the project is to have a guest chef in the cafeteria once a month, Riesenberg said.
The idea was developed earlier this year and discussed at the SGA retreat, Riesenberg said.
SGA officials initially were concerned that Sodexo officials would be against the idea of hosting local chefs in the cafeteria for financial reasons, Riesenberg said.
“We had this big fear that OCU Dining would be against it,” he said.
Kelli Keegan, director of operations for Sodexo, said she is excited about the new program.
Sodexo officials want students to enjoy coming to the cafeteria and the program will promote the cafeteria, Keegan said.
“We’re here to make sure that students have the best dining experience possible,” she said.
Keegan said she isn’t worried about profits declining as a result of the program.
“If anything profits will go up because more people will want to come on those nights,” Keegan said.
Ali Cardaropoli, English junior, said the program sounds like a good idea.
“It gives you something different to try,” she said. “Because we go to such a small school there isn’t much variety and this is a good way to bring more variety to the cafeteria.”
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