The start of each semester brings new classes, new professors and of course, a new Oak Room.
After lasting only two months as The Oak Room Grille last semester, the always-fickle West Union Building eatery will take on its latest incarnation Monday as the privatized "Blue Bistro in the Oak Room." Besides the new name, other changes include a new staff, a scaled-down menu, tips on food points and a new customer base that will improve the Blue Bistro's chances of maintaining its name and operators for more than a semester.
In December, Dining Services forced ARAMARK Corp. to give up its one-and-a-half-year control of The Oak Room Grille and Faculty Commons and handed the reigns to Fares Hanna, manager of the Blue Express in the Levine Science Research Center.
Jim Wulforst, director of dining services, said The Oak Room's persistent troubles were due to its three-season-per-year schedule and year-round expenses - including the cost of union labor and rent. During the summer months, when thousands of campers flooded campus, The Oak Room could not stay open because people were not interested in "fine dining."
"There just wasn't enough activity in The Oak Room to keep it open or to generate enough revenue to pay the bills year-round," Wulforst said.
Hanna, a former vice president of operations at George's Garage, said he hopes to supplement regular dining with catering.
"We are creating a professional, nice atmosphere for students to have semi-formals, parties and other private functions," Hanna said. He hopes to rent out the Bistro's five private rooms on the weekends.
The replacement of 11 union employees will also save the Bistro money, although Wulforst stressed that his office worked with the Local 77 union's Board to relocate all those displaced employees to a place of their choosing.
"We put a plan together that they were comfortable with," he said. "They have all been relocated to other dining service locations [or auxiliary services units], including the Marketplace as well as the newly opened Subway."
Hanna said that other than the new staff, one of the most significant changes will be a smaller, more accommodating menu with a touch of Mediterranean flavor.
"If there's fettuccini listed, and you want fettuccini with shrimp or mushrooms, we'll do it for you - no problem," he said.
Perhaps the most significant appeal for students as well as staff of the Bistro may be the ability to tip servers on food points as well as FLEX. The issue of dispersing tips has always been a problem for Dining Services, as they have struggled to decide whether to pay students premium wages with a percentage of tips, or a minimum base wage with full tips.
"Being a student, tips on points gives me more of an incentive to go there," said Isaac Dolgovskij, co-chair of the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee. "It's going to help the employees as well, so that they won't get stiffed on tips."
Under Hanna's management, Wulforst and Dolgovskij said they are confident about the future success of the Bistro and that community members will turn to the eatery to find fine-dining on the level of many off-campus upscale favorites.
Hanna said he recognizes the need for student input to attract a new customer base. "The first six weeks will be crucial," he said. "We're willing to make changes to make this a success.
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