Nine months after it opened on Central Campus, the Devil’s Bistro is receiving mixed reviews.
The Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee met last Monday in a nearly empty Devil’s Bistro to review the venue. Even after a wait of up to 25 minutes, there was significant confusion with the members’ meals and some did not receive what they ordered.
“Right now you’re seeing what may be called struggles of a bistro in distress,” said DUSDAC co-Chair Alex Klein, a senior. “This gives us an idea of staffing issues and food service and timing issues. It took way too long to get food today.”
Devil’s Bistro sous chef and former personal chef to Diana Ross, Sean Sanford emphasized the strength of the menu to DUSDAC.
“We’re putting out menus with a wide spread of everything and then we have the steak and potatoes as well,” Sanford said. “We can adjust to whatever [students’] needs may be. We don’t have too many items that do not do well.”
As they ate, DUSDAC critiqued the venue’s tough meat and slow service. Despite the criticism, Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst said that financially, the restaurant has exceeded administrative expectations.
Wulforst also attributed inconsistent service to the restaurant’s concept.
“It’s a little bit different of a business model from Plate & Pitchfork,” Wulforst said.
Darrell Brown, general manager and executive chef at Devil’s Bistro, agreed that the venue has been doing well and added that many of DUSDAC’s complaints have already been addressed.
Brown said the bistro is in the process of transitioning to a system where employees run the food, as opposed to the previous pick-up system.
“We have these rings right here on the table,” said Brown in an interview Tuesday. “We’re going to try to go away from the budget system and go towards a system where we’re going to be able to control the tempo of the food by running it ourselves.”
Brown was also quick to point out that DUSDAC’s experience with tough meat was an anomaly.
“As soon as I heard that, I went back to my distributor, and I had them pull that lot,” Brown said. “We also did a blind testing here at the restaurant to ensure that that was a one off—something that’s not a regularity here.”
Like DUSDAC, students generally have mixed feelings about the Bistro.
For some students, sub-par meals undermine the strength of the menu’s variety. Central Campus resident Ari Bar-Mashiah, a junior, said although he appreciates the venue’s selection, inconsistency in the quality of the food is disappointing.
“The food is really hit or miss, which kind of threw me off,” Bar-Mashiah said. “I don’t like that when I go to Devil’s Bistro it’s like a gamble on whatever I’m choosing to eat.”
Many students living on Central, including Bar-Mashiah, said they go because of the convenience. The restaurant’s distance from East and West Campuses presents an obstacle to many students, but Wulforst said the varied demographic of the bistro’s clientele is unexpected.
“Most of them are West Campus residents, which is surprising to me,” he said. “They’re meeting Central Campus residents—probably 20 percent are freshmen.”
Some freshmen said they would like to go but have not because of the inconvenience.
“I go to West Campus eateries because I am often already on West,” said freshman Glenn Rivkees. “I am never on Central, and it’s too out of the way to merit a trip, especially when it involves a C-2.”
Rivkees noted, however, that he has heard good things about the Bistro and would like to try it in the future.
Attracting customers to the Bistro will be partly be the responsibility of advertising, Wulforst said, adding that financial constraints and a limited budget will force the bistro to focus on low-cost solutions.
“Spending money on Chronicle advertisements may not be as effective as Facebook, Twitter and table tents,” Wulforst said. “[The bistro] can advertise, but they have a limited budget.”
Some students think the Bistro might face a significant challenge in increasing its customer base.
DUSDAC member, Helen Zhang, a junior, said she was so unimpressed with the tofu dish she ordered, that she planned to eat again on West after the meeting concluded. Although she lives across the street, Zhang added that she rarely eats at the Devil’s Bistro.
“If I wanted food [off of West Campus], I’d go to a restaurant,” Zhang said. “Chipotle is right up the street. I’m not enticed enough to come here.”
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