About four years after the initial proposal to put a restaurant in the former Darnall cafeteria, Epicurean & Co. General Manager Hieu Pham said that Epicurean’s restaurant should open in Darnall by the end of April. No specific date has been chosen yet.
Epicurean must secure plumbing, electrical and mechanics permits before it can open, according to University spokesperson Andrea Fereshteh. Ken Park, the project’s contractor, said that if all goes well with the final inspections this week, Epicurean should be open in two weeks.
The restaurant will have three sub-sections: a formal sit-down hibachi section with waitstaff and reservations, a more informal self-serve cafeteria with a deli, salad bar and international food bar, and a cocktail bar partitioned off by opaque black glass, which can also serve as a venue for private parties. Park said that there are tentative plans for live music and karaoke in the bar.
Pham said the completion of Epicurean & Co.’s restaurant has been mired by delays, but would not clarify. Chef Peter Tran mentioned that the management painted the walls a different color four times “to make [the space] even prettier.”
While catering to students with the less-expensive self-serve cafeteria, where each pound of food will cost between six and seven dollars, Pham said that the restaurant’s target audience extends beyond campus to professors, professionals who live two or three miles from campus and campus visitors.
The sit-down restaurant with hibachi grills will take reservations, although Pham said that prices will still be “reasonable.”
“It [won’t be] upscale sit-down dinner that costs 100 dollars per couple,” Pham said.
Students in Darnall are skeptical about the practicality of opening a restaurant in their dorm.
“I’m not sure if the price range is entirely geared for students,” Lindsay Neubauer (COL ’11) said. “We would rather have another dining hall so we don’t have to go all the way down to Leo’s, especially if you can’t use your meal plan at the new restaurant.”
Pham said that Epicurean & Co. is “still working” with the University to find a possible meal plan option, but no programs are currently planned.
Emma Marwood (SFS ’08) said that she is not sure how frequently she will go to Epicurean & Co. when it opens.
“I would go as a novelty. I think it’d be funny—I actually lived in Darnall my freshman year,” Marwood said. “But I’m not sure if I’d go repeatedly … convenience is a big factor. I might go if I was a senior and lived in Henle.”
Epicurean & Co. will serve free lunch and dinner on the restaurant’s opening day in order to attract students, according to Pham.
