At University of Kentucky’s dining facilities, students can fill their empty stomachs while feeling good about helping local restaurant owners thrive.
Pulkit Vigg, resident district manager with Aramark, with UK mascot Scratch.
Pulkit Vigg is resident district manager for UK food service provider Aramark. He holds the coveted job of sampling restaurant specialties while vetting and helping to bring new local fare to food stations at Champions Kitchen in the student center and The 90, on the south side of campus.
Vigg routinely fields inquiries and talks to restaurant reps eager to have a presence at UK. But it’s a long process toward approval, as he first tastes the food, examines restaurants’ safety records and kitchen practices and talks to owners in depth. If he thinks it might be a good partnership, he invites the restaurant to host pop-up events on campus to gauge student interest.
“If they are the right person and the right business, we slowly try to incorporate them first in a smaller [food] station and then, in the end, into the big dining spaces,” Vigg said.
Champions Kitchen has one designated local restaurant serving per week. Restaurants regularly serving at The 90 include Athenian Grill, Smashing Tomato, Atomic Ramen and Taste of India.
Dining halls also feature salad bars stocked with seasonal local farmers’ produce, and Marksbury Farm Market supplies fresh whole animals for protein-packed dishes. In UK’s grab-and-go Pantry locations, Lexington’s Crank & Boom Craft Ice Cream, Paris-based Mingua’s Beef Jerky and locally made chocolates are stocked.
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The addition of restaurants such as Athenian Grill and Atomic Ramen to UK’s dining program provides more options for students and faculty, as well as helps fulfill UK food service provider Aramark’s commitment to serving more locally sourced foods.
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The addition of restaurants such as Athenian Grill and Atomic Ramen to UK’s dining program provides more options for students and faculty, as well as helps fulfill UK food service provider Aramark’s commitment to serving more locally sourced foods.
Part of Aramark’s contractual commitment with UK, now in its fifth year, includes a strong emphasis on purchasing in-state and locally raised and manufactured foods, Vigg said. According to UK’s annual dining sourcing report released in September, more than $2.6 million was spent in 2018-19, comprising 146% of the minimum contract requirement.
In August Kevin Heathcoat, co-owner of Bourbon n’ Toulouse in Lexington, began serving Cajun and creole specialties one week per month at Champions Kitchen.
“UK Dining has done an amazing job of not only working with local restaurants, but local food producers in general,” he said. “They’re really doing a good job of keeping money inside the state of Kentucky.”
"UK Dining has done an amazing job of not only working with local restaurants, but local food producers in general.” —Kevin Heathcoat, co-owner of Bourbon n’ Toulouse
Heathcoat said UK Dining supplies plates and utensils and lets him know in advance how many servings to bring per day, paying him a set fee in return. He said he switches up his daily entrees and often serves the food himself, meeting students and letting them know they can also visit his traditional restaurant on Euclid Avenue.
“We’re there as the face of our business, and it gives us the opportunity to market our business while we’re making money and serving good food,” he said.
Taylor Cook is owner of Taylor Belle ice cream, which has had a presence at Champion’s Kitchen, Kroger Field and Rupp Arena and will debut at The 90 in January. The company launched in 2014 and is based in a commercial kitchen on her family’s farm.
Cook’s story differs, as the Bluegrass Community & Technical College sophomore’s ultimate career goal is to be a cardiologist. Her business funds her education by the scoop as she serves frozen flavors like Taylor’s Delight—chocolate ice cream with brownie chunks, chocolate chips and a fudge swirl—and Bourbon Blast with vanilla ice cream, bourbon, vanilla wafers and a fudge swirl.
Atomic Ramen owner Dan Wu opened his Lexington restaurant in the Summit in 2017 and said Vigg approached him about serving on campus about 18 months ago, starting with a small pop-up experience that led to a presence at The 90, Champions Kitchen and Kroger Field concessions.
Having a regular source of income from UK has been great, he said, and as soon as the dining hall doors open, he knows there will be 10 or 15 college kids in line waiting to be fed.
“For a restaurateur it’s kind of amazing to have that level of predictability,” he said.
One challenge has been planning scaled-up vendor orders, deliveries and prepared food to meet new demands at different locations, but the recent hire of an operations manager and having a simpler menu at UK compared to his Summit location are the solution, he said.
At The 90 for example, he’ll choose to serve bao buns with pork belly or curried chicken a couple days a week, and at the others he’ll offer Korean tacos or dumplings.
Vigg said he’s a frequent customer at the dining facilities, which he said are at the forefront of the modern campus dining experience. He said he and his team strive for dining services, the school, the community and students to each thrive.
“If all four of them don’t do well, then what we do doesn’t make any sense,” he said.