Quinnipiac officials partnered with Chartwells to open Heritage Kitchen on Aug. 26 in the Carl Hanson Student Center, replacing Au Bon Pain café. 

This concept is the first in the country that Chartwells has implemented.

Quinnipiac students learned about this change on the @qubarstool Instagram account, which posted a photo Aug. 19 showing a closed Heritage Kitchen. The photo was captioned “Exit: Au Bon, Enter: Heritage Kitchen?”

“I ordered from Au Bon a lot,” said Maeve Reardon, a sophomore psychology major. “I got my coffees there, mostly in the morning, instead of waiting in the Starbucks line. I just thought that (Au Bon Pain) was quicker.” 

Au Bon Pain has shut down multiple locations in recent months, noticeably within other colleges and universities, such as Virginia Tech and the University of Buffalo. The company was sold by Panera to Ampex Brands in 2021 and has seen a decline in locations since.

Heritage Kitchen provides a space for food trucks to serve food to students. The food trucks are scheduled to rotate weekly, focusing on cultural foods. 

“I think it brings a lot of diversity with food and taps into other people’s cultures,” Reardon said. 

The Taste of Grill food truck, which has Mediterranean food like gyros and rice bowls, was the first to enter the space.

They are a part of Food Fleet, a company that helps provide food trucks to various universities and businesses. Chartwells previously partnered with Food Fleet and has now chartered the company to provide services to Heritage Kitchen.

The Taste of Grill has served Quinnipiac for several years. The university reached out to them during the spring 2024 semester about the opportunity to work in Heritage Kitchen.

“I believe we are set to (come in) once a month for a week,” said Arek Kulikowski, who manages the team at the Taste of Grill. “It’s a pilot program right now, so we’re going to see how it goes and see what the student reaction is.”

The Dining Services Advisory Board, made up of faculty and students, met in April to discuss options for filling the space left by Au Bon Pain.

“Part of our rationale was having a wider amount of time available for the food trucks,” said Alyssa Venus, a junior student on the DSAB, in a written statement to The Chronicle. “(Food trucks are) only for a couple hours. Plus, when there is inclement weather, many students do not want to wait out in the wind/rain/cold/heat for their favorite trucks.”

Food truck lines at the Quad can become long during peak dining hours, leading to students standing in line for extended periods. 

“I do think Heritage Kitchen is nice because we have (more dining) options,” said Kristina Todd, a senior biomedical science major. “The food truck lines are really long, so this cuts it down because we’ll have it all day instead of just two hours.”

Food truck workers also faced challenges, and has benefited from being indoors.

“We’re confided to this tiny space, and it makes it more challenging,” Kulikowski said. “(With Heritage Kitchen), we can spread out and serve more efficiently … we love the layout here.”

Heritage Kitchen also gives opportunities for students who don’t have the chance to go off campus for the chance to try different foods.

“It’s a good change from the dining hall,” said Elle Atwood, a first-year nursing major. “(First-year students) can’t go off campus because we don’t have cars, so it’s good to change it up.”

Heritage Kitchen is one of many new changes to campus dining over the summer, including Fuel Up — where students are free to choose from all-you-can-eat options.

“I think especially in the last year, (Quinnipiac) has been trying to listen to more students,” Todd said. “Having the dining advisor board gives more of an option to have a say. Partnering with the cultural student organizations has been helpful to be able to keep holidays in mind.”