Vegan and vegetarian students have thanked De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) for listening to them in the creation of its newest campus café.
The Riverside Café has been built on the ground floor of the new Vijay Patel Building, at the west end of the building, on the bank of the River Soar.
It was officially opened with a celebration offering students, staff and members of the public free samples from its modern and varied menu, which has a strong focus on vegan and vegetarian foods, along with meat dishes and special dietary requirement choices, including celiac, gluten-free and low fat and sugar foods.
The café, run by catering firm Chartwells, was created with input from students and staff at DMU and at the opening event, members of the university's Vegan and Vegetarian Society said they were pleased the university had listened.
Amber Leach, who is studying a Masters in International Relations, said: "It's really nice that the university listened to us. There are so many options on the menu for people with all kinds of requirements and the food is so good all round."
Dinah Lowe, chair of the society, said: "I think the café has a really unique feel. Although it's on campus it feels like quite a separate part of the university; it's somewhere you could come to get away from it and relax."
In a spacious, well-lit setting with contemporary design, the café also features outdoor seating areas overlooking both the river and the landscaped grounds of the Vijay Patel Building and the redeveloped Mill Lane.
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Some of the dishes on offer include Spicy Korean vegetable broth with kimchi, butternut and sweet potato Thai orange curry, and ground lamb and aubergine pasticcio.
The dishes are part of a range of hot and cold breakfast, lunch and dinner meals, drawing on foods and cooking styles from around the world.
James Hart, executive chef with Chartwells, helped design the menu. He said: "We took insight from surveys of students and staff and realised that incorporating a range of dietary needs and preferences confidently was of real importance.
"Our emphasis is on fresh food, fresh ingredients every day and I think it's great that we are open to the public, really putting DMU on the map for its food."
The café is one of the last pieces of DMU's £136 million campus transformation project, which has seen a huge overhaul of the DMU site, creating several new buildings and remodelling and landscaping the whole of Mill Lane and its surroundings.
Ben Browne, DMU's chief operating officer, said at the opening event: "The Riverside Café really brings our newly-landscaped campus right up to the river and there is no doubt that this will be a stunning location for an evening summer meal.
"We're happy, too, that this is part of our campus which can be enjoyed by the public, further demonstrating our commitment to public good."
Posted on Friday 13 January 2017