The Law Refectory Café will leave Duke’s campus June 30.
The Refectory's contract has not been renewed, said Laura Hall, founder and chief executive of Bon Vivant Catering, which runs the café. The decision comes several months after Hall filed a legal complaint against Duke for its actions regarding the departure of the Refectory's sister restaurant—the Refectory Café in the Divinity School— and its subsequent replacement by the Divinity Refectory.
"The whole Duke community loses," Hall said. "I love being here. I love the Duke community, and they love us."
Rick Johnson, assistant vice president of housing and dining; Robert Coffey, director of dining services; and senior Chris Taylor, co-chair of the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee, declined to comment for this story due to the nature of the lawsuit against the University.
The Refectory Café in the Divinity School left campus in June 2012 after Hall declined to pay an increased commission to Duke Dining. At the start of the 2012-2013 school year, its former location was taken by the Divinity Refectory—a separate restaurant from the Refectory Café, managed by Core Catering, Inc.
In August 2013, Hall filed a lawsuit against Core Catering and its co-founder, Patricia Eder—a former employee of Hall's. Although the University was not listed as a defendant on the original legal complaint, Duke attached itself to the case on the grounds that it selected Core Catering as the location's new tenant, according to the current complaint. The defendants are now Duke University, Core Catering and Eder.
Hall is suing on the grounds that Eder has imitated her original business at the Divinity School and attempted to pass it off as the same restaurant, with the University being complicit.
In January, the Divinity Refectory changed its name to the Divinity Café.
Eder did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The Refectory Cafés have been named "Best of Duke" for seven of the past eight years, and the Law Refectory serves between 130 and 150 people every 30 minutes during lunch hours, Hall said.
“[Hall] established that food on campus need not be of cafeteria quality and we did not need to settle for mediocrity,” said Alex Klein, Trinity ’11, former co-chair of DUSDAC—noting that he ate at the Law Refectory Café every day for a year when he was a student.
Hall added that a number of prominent campus figures have frequented the Refectory over the years, including men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski and President Richard Brodhead.
“I am indeed a great fan of the Refectory, under old and new management both,” Brodhead said in an email April 15, adding that it would be inappropriate for him to comment further due to the lawsuit.
The departure of the Refectory Café at the Divinity School was met by student protests, and Hall noted that she has heard of a similar response developing as a result of the Law Refectory's exit—not just because of the café's food, but also because of its sustainability efforts.
“Through my experiences with sustainability efforts on campus, I've found that Duke often prioritizes sustainability and healthfulness, but getting rid of the Refectory is counter-productive for reaching those goals,” said co-coordinator of Duke Dorm Eco-Reps Shajuti Hossain, a junior.
Bon Vivant was named the winner of a University award for sustainability earlier this year.
After the closure of the Refectory Café at the Divinity School, Hall opened up a new Refectory location on Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard. She said that she has plans to add an additional location after the closure of the Law Refectory.
It is not yet clear what will occupy the space left open by the Refectory. According to the legal complaint, "[r]epresentatives of Duke law faculty, staff, and students will participate in the selection of a new vendor to operate the second-floor Café." The complaint notes that Bon Vivant will be barred from participating in the bidding process for a new vendor.
Correction: An earlier version of this article referred to Shajuti Hossain as co-chair of Students for Sustainable Living. She is co-coordinator of Duke Dorm Eco-Reps. The Chronicle regrets the error.
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