Seven weeks after opening, the Oak Room will receive yet another makeover.
ARAMARK removed Maggie Radzwiller as manager of the Oak Room and the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee is moving to install a menu they think is more in line with students' tastes in time for the spring semester.
Neither Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst nor ARAMARK District Manager David Randolph would explain why Radzwiller, Trinity '77, was dismissed, but said it was separate from the move to make the Oak Room more accommodating for students.
"It would be wrong if I had any discussion of why she wasn't here or why she was here," said Wulforst, adding that he will ensure that no other Oak Room employee will be dismissed.
In response to student feedback, the Oak Room added a number of items to a new menu within the past week, including lobster ravioli and several new sandwiches. Senior Jason Freedman, DUSDAC co-chair, said the committee would finalize its resolution next Tuesday night and bring yet another menu and lower prices before the Duke Student Government next Wednesday night.
Freedman and dining administrators agreed that the Oak Room should implement the menu DUSDAC agreed upon last summer. Radzwiller worked to include only food that was fresh and not pre-prepared, but Wulforst could not say what mix the new menu would offer.
"To make the restaurant work, you need both from-scratch items and some that are pre-made," Randolph said. "That depends on what DUSDAC and what students want. I foresee a mix."
Radzwiller said she was not allowed to discuss the details of her dismissal either, but said she felt the Oak Room was making progress under her leadership. "The latest menu that just came out was taking into account what students wanted," she said.
Wulforst said that he was still dissatisfied with the Oak Room, that it should be selling 200 to 250 dinners each evening, not 60 to 80. "The Oak Room got off to a very rocky start," Wulforst said. "Students are asking me, OWhat are you doing...? The reality is that Maggie has extraordinary credentials. We were convinced we could really bring a Pop's or Nana's menu to Duke. It didn't work."
The Oak Room was reopened after extensive renovations during the summer. ARAMARK pushed back the opening until October, after hiring Radzwiller to give her time to train students and employees.
"I was hired to open a fine dining restaurant on a university campus that would appeal to students, faculty, administration and members of the community," she said. "That's what I did. It was later determined that a stronger support from the student body [would be necessary]."
Radzwiller has 20 years of hospitality management and food service experience--including designing Pop's and owning Brightleaf 905, both in Durham.
"We had an experiment with a world-class chef, but I don't believe the students had a full say on how they want [the Oak Room]," Freedman said. "We want something you can eat week in, week out, at higher level of quality than you can get anywhere else on campus [but] doesn't have to be the absolute best meal you ever had."
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