D2's La Pâtisserie includes a self-serve waffle-making area, in addition to signature desserts, including cakes, cookies, pies and homemade cobblers.

In January of 1999, its West End Market dining center made headlines as the new face of foodservice on college campuses. Modeled after Toronto's Marché concept and Chicago's Foodlife operation, the facility was a pioneer for many university dining center designs that followed in recent years.

“West End was cutting-edge at the time,” says Robert Coffey, Virginia Tech's senior associate director of housing and dining services. “We had taken our staff on a tour of Foodlife and Marché before the renovation, so they could visualize what we were trying to achieve. Since the facility was completed, we've had many universities visit to look at our setup and how it works.”

When the school set out to renovate The Depot at its Dietrick Dining Hall back in 2004, it took many cues from the success of its West End Market project, while giving the university's more than 30,000 students an opportunity to provide input.

“We were hearing feedback from students that they were enthralled with West End and wanted something similar in an all-you-can-eat setting,” says Ted Faulkner, D2's associate director of dining services. “That began the thought process for the facility's renovation.”

When the initial plans began taking shape, it was determined that the students sought a world marketplace that featured ethnic menu items authentic to different regions. The look would be different than West End, with more aesthetically pleasing artwork and sculptures defining the space.

The $6.5 million gut renovation involved duplicating the former facility's eight serving lines and moving the dishroom. The time line was a gut-wrenching 115 days, warp speed for a project of this scope.

The team's determination to have the project complete before the fall semester started was the impetus for the tight deadline. The plan called for shutting down The Depot in May after graduation ceremonies concluded and implementing a downsized program in half the space during the spring semester. The D2 opening was scheduled for August, when students arrived on campus.

Chef de Cuisine Adriana Simpsonprepares locally grown apples fordinner at D2, Virginia Tech's award-winning dining facility that serves an average of 3,900 students each day.

In preparation for construction, the crew built a dust wall halfway down the servery in November of 2003. This decreased the dining center space from 1,200 to 600 seats. Also, because the facility was losing a dishroom during construction on the student side, a temporary switch to single-use paper goods was instituted. A dishroom was still available for kitchen support.

Equipment was so pivotal in this renovation project that many pieces were purchased five years before construction began. “Back in 1999 and 2000, we had the foresight to purchase new equipment pieces that we could incorporate into a future renovation,” Faulkner says. These included pass-through warmers and refrigeration units.

Between the additional equipment purchased during the renovation, the existing units incorporated into the kitchen design and equipment specified by the general contractor, Faulkner was managing five equipment categories at once. The total equipment package ended up totaling just over $1 million.

Like most renovations, Virginia Tech's ran into some minor bumps along the way. Most notable were the two staff changes at the food consultancies involved with the project. “This made things more challenging at times. Although the flow could have gone better if the same person stayed on this project from beginning to end, it was a hurdle we overcame,” Faulkner notes.

There were a number of key features with this renovation. Most prevalent was that D2 was bringing food preparation out in front of its customers, as opposed to The Depot's method of preparing in a back kitchen. This not only created a restaurant atmosphere, but also had a positive impact on customer comfort and satisfaction.

The concern about D2's all-you-can-eat format slowing up lines was unfounded. On the contrary, the new format improved service, accommodating between 2,000 customers per hour or 3,000 in a single meal period.

It was soon discovered that, not only was the quality of display cooking higher than that of The Depot's batch-cooking process, but there was decreased waste. “Unlike batch cooking, display cooking allows us to better estimate ingredient amounts. Since we offer the lowest meal-plan cost of all Virginia colleges, this is a big plus for us in terms of cost savings,” Coffey says.

D2 is located on Dietrick Dining Hall's upper level, along with a main kitchen and a grab 'n go area run by the facility. Receiving and storage are on the lower level. A separate freight elevator transports food between these sections.

The glass-enclosed room is designed with the food areas in the center and 1,066 seats scattered throughout both a main area and two flex dining areas.

According to Terry Reed, D2's executive chef, it is a unique design that works. Traffic for breakfast ranges from 800 to 1,000 customers, while 1,400 to 2,400 students arrive for lunch or dinner. Menus rotate on a four-week cycle.

Pan Asia, which features a variety of Japanese, Cantonese and Thai dishes, is one of D2's most popular food stations.

One of the most popular food stations is Pan Asia, which features a variety of Japanese, Cantonese and Thai creations. Here, a three-head California wok is used to stir-fry vegetables, pork, beef, chicken, seafood and other ingredients. Staff use a range top to heat soups.

Also popular with students, Gauchos, D2's authentic Brazilian churrascaria, features a variety of skewered meats grilled over an open pit flame and carved in front of customers. “We were the first to implement an open fire pit in a university setting,” Reed says. There are 24 skewers being grilled at one time. Diners can choose from two sauces or create sandwiches with a choice of bread, meat and cheeses.

D2 has won best concept and design awards from Food Management and American Schools & University magazines as well as the National Association of College and University Food Services.

D2's Mangia offers Italian dishes, including pasta with a variety of toppings, pizza prepared in brick ovens, freshly tossed Caesar salad and breadsticks. There also is a separate salad bar in this area. Here, a pasta cooker is utilized, along with dough machines for the from-scratch pizza crust.

Olives is the dining center's award-winning vegetarian/vegan venue. This self-contained site also can accommodate special dietary needs. Its Mediterranean offerings and Middle Eastern-inspired dishes include hummus blended fresh with a food processor on-site, garden burgers prepared on a flat-top grill and mushroom cutlets heated in the steamer.

At Salsas, students can choose from a variety of Mexican dishes, including fajitas, tacos, Spanish rice and beans. The Salsa Susan features a lazy Susan containing six freshly made salsas. A cold well contains toppings, including lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and sour cream. Meat here is prepared on a flat-top grill, while a fryer is used to produce taco bowls.

The desserts at D2's La Pâtisserie include crème Brule that is carmelized in front of customers. This section also includes a waffle iron in the self-serve waffle-making area.

Reminiscent of a Brooklyn-style deli, the facility's East Side Deli venue offers a variety of sandwich options. Meat is sliced in front of customers here. A conveyor oven toasts the finished product upon request.

Virginia Tech students enjoy eating at the popular West End Market, one of the first fully implemented Maché-style operations in the country

West End Market's concept features display cooking, giving students the option to customize their entrées.

“We have incorporated refrigeration, freezers, hot boxes and cooking equipment into all of the venues, which makes preparation more efficient. There also are handwashing sinks every 15 feet,” Faulkner says.

These food stations are supported by a 6,000-square-foot kitchen, located on the main floor. Here, breakfast items such as oatmeal, grits, bacon, sausage and scrambled eggs are produced using steam kettles, ovens and flat-top grills.

In the afternoon, this kitchen's staff cook vegetables in the steam kettle, grill meats on a charbroiler and prep ingredients with a chopper/mixer. The kitchen also contains a blast chiller, large scale, warmers and upright coolers.

A storage area attached to the kitchen has separate walk-ins for vegetables, meats and dairy/cakes. There also is a staging cooler for bulk meat deliveries, which shares a space with soft drinks. Another walk-in freezer downstairs is used for ice cream and large deliveries.

While The Depot's dishroom was located in the center of its facility, D2's was moved to the side of the building to facilitate a better view. “We went from using a tray system to a giant dish accumulator system, which is more efficient in terms of labor and waste,” Faulkner says. This reduced the multiple scrapping decks down to one. We need to handle 750 guests every 20 minutes, so we incorporated one of the largest dish accumulator systems ever built.”

The volume of meal plans has grown substantially since the renovation. Virginia Tech currently has more meal-plan holders who are off-campus than those who are on. Of the 18,500 meal-plan holders, 9,400 live off-campus.

Despite its innovative programs and new initiatives, Virginia Tech has managed to keep its operating costs lower than other state universities. “We're very fortunate that we're a self-operated school and can put resources back into our program. We realize we are only as good as the last meal served,” Coffey says.