Karen Recker, manager of culinary services; Mike Mitroi, associate director for dining and culinary support services; Jon Brubacher, manager of food purchasing.

Efforts to improve sustainability and to do more local sourcing are figuring much more prominently as the department looks ahead.

This summer, the department is directing a lot of its energy towards the first floor foodservice in the new Richard T. Farmer School of Business that will open this fall. Called Dividends, it will feature panini, salad, soup and quiche offerings, an upscale dim sum concept, and a bakery and coffee counter.

Given the current climate in higher education, “improvements in efficiency will be at the top of the priority list,” says Heidtman, who believes the Demske center positions the department well to meet that challenge. Facility modernizations at individual dining hall locations will also be critical to that effort, she adds.

As such necessary changes are made, the department will have to stay focused on retaining its longstanding sense of community, Miller says.

LA MIA CUCINA. MU’s newest restaurant concept offers an open-air kitchen, a contemporary Italian menu and a casual atmosphere with European flair.

“There is a sense of history here,” he adds. “It is partly the architecture and campus, partly from our location, but a lot of it is from our people.

“I've had the pleasure of working with many senior managers and staff over the years who were always very dedicated to Miami's excellence and its oldest ideals. We have people in campus jobs who are second and third generation employees and will tell you a father or grandmother worked here. It's one of the things that makes the Miami experience unique.”