New Main Dining Facility Unveiled
From "Not to "Hot"
Joe Harvey, Campus Dining Service General Manager

On August 22, Webster proudly opened a fully-renovated new restaurant called Marletto’s Marketplace. Formerly known as Maria Hall Cafeteria (originally built in 1959), the new digs have been very well received by both new students and returning students. An old institutional-style cafeteria was replaced with a vibrant new dining facility. “Wow, what happened to this place?” “There are more choices now.” “This is great. I can see my meal being prepared hot and fresh.” These are just a few comments overheard in recent weeks.

Marletto’s Marketplace (located in the Maria/Loretto Hall complex...thus the name “Marletto’s”) features several stations set up similarly to a shopping mall food court, albeit on a smaller scale:

1.) SHOWCASE: a Mongolian grill with an emphasis on Asian foods but also featuring various other ethnic specialties. The majority of entrees served here are cooked to order.
2.) CLASSICS: traditional home-cooked entrees such as meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans, as well as vegetarian options.
3.) SIZZLE: burgers, fries, and other hot sandwiches. Another station where items are cooked to order.
4.) PIETANZA: pizza by-the-slice and a daily pasta and sauce feature.
5.) FRESH!: salad bar with 12 popular fresh vegetables and toppings
6.) QUENCHERS: an array of hot and cold beverages along with a soft serve yogurt/ice cream machine
7.) GOODIES: freshly baked desserts

The new Marletto’s now facilitates the preparation and cooking of ingredients to be done in full view of the students. Long gone are the days of mysterious cooks doing mysterious things behind kitchen walls. At SIZZLE, for example, in exchange for a short four-minute wait, a student can see his/her burger being charbroiled and then prepared on a hot toasted bun with all the toppings. At SHOWCASE, one can hear the clickity-clack of metal spatulas tapping the iron grill while stir-frying an order of sesame chicken. At PIETANZA a pasta lover can get a hot, fresh order of bowtie pasta with alfredo pesto sauce. Gone are the days of “cook and park”---the practice of cooking in large batches in a mysterious kitchen and then “parking” the finished product on a steam table.