UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business cafe will soon undergo several major changes in ownership, operations and food selection.
Beginning Dec. 1, a new vendor — Stradavarius Inc., a group that has prior experience serving at other campus locations such as the Free Speech Movement Cafe and Cafe Zeb at the UC Berkeley School of Law — will supply the cafe with new menu selections, a new chef and the opportunity for students to contribute suggestions.
According to Jennifer Sang, the school’s director of Instructional Planning and Operations, the school selected the new vendor by a competitive bid process.
“We sent out a request for proposal to over 25 cafe vendors,” she said. “We came up with a document that included what was important to the community, what our expectations are in terms of hours, population they’re serving and price range. We did in-depth interviews and tastings, and Stradavarius came out on top.”
Stradavarius will replace the existing vendor, Moon Chul Yun, whose lease ends Nov. 30. Yun, who currently runs Jimmy Bean’s FIFO Cafe at the location, submitted a proposal but was not selected to renew his lease.
“Stradavarius stood out among the applicants for their proven commitment to reasonable cost, food quality, healthy choices, speed of service and sustainability,” said Alice Kubler, assistant dean for budget and operations at the school, in an email. “These elements were identified by the Haas Cafe Committee of students, faculty and staff as being important to our community.”
According to Sang, Stradavarius will work with new cafe owner Daryl Ross to set up an advisory committee of students that will meet and provide feedback to Ross.
Full-time MBA students at the school, as part of a class project, will also conduct market research among faculty, staff and students to collect customers’ preferences, Sang said. The new menu will take into consideration all of the responses found in these surveys.
Sang said the interviews for new vendors were conducted before the end of the lease to make the transition between vendors as seamless as possible.
The cafe space itself will undergo a month-long remodeling that includes changes to furniture, lighting and paint. During the remodeling, Stradavarius still plans to operate at a table in front of the cafe space to offer a small selection of fresh drinks, sandwiches and salads, according to Sang.
“We’re in the phase where Daryl, his architect and his people are evaluating the space and trying to determine how much to be invested,” Sang said. “The full-blown menu will not debut until spring semester.”
Sang added that there has been talk of possibly doing a contest among students to decide the name of the newly reorganized cafe.
The official re-opening of the cafe in the school is currently scheduled for mid-January of next year and will include a “Friends and Family” event for customers to sample the new menu and provide feedback on food and renovations, according to an email sent to the school community. Proceeds from products sold in the new cafe will go to the school.
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