Dolci Celebrates Culinary Creations

Middlebury’s only student-run restaurant, Dolci, turns 16 this year. Since its conception in 1998, Dolci has served as an on-campus haven for foodies of all stripes, offering students the unique opportunity to enjoy high-end cuisine or create and serve original menus. Dolci is housed in Atwater dining hall, where 80 students sit down to a free, multi-course meal most Friday evenings of the year. Midd kids doubling as head chefs, cooks and waiters arrange the meal for their peers over the course of the preceding week, working beside — and sometimes with — Atwater dining staff.

Anyone is welcome to cook for Dolci, regardless of background or experience, a detail that encourages students to explore culinary interests at all levels. Ben Bogin ’15, Co-President of Dolci, believes the opportunity to work in an industrial kitchen like Atwater is one of the greatest perks of Dolci.

“I hope that people who have never cooked before can come feel comfortable working in the kitchen, because working in our dining hall kitchen is so amazing,” Bogin said. “It’s a completely different world.”

Bry Kleber ’14, who will be the head chef of the last Dolci dinner of the spring semester, agrees that Dolci is a unique experience for students.

“It’s a really great feeling to be able to cook for somebody,” Kleber said. “There’s something very intimate about that, and you can get that intimacy and that connection with Dolci, which I think is great.”

Attending Dolci as a dinner is just as rich working behind the scenes. Bogin’s sister and Co-President Emily Bogin ’16 explained that Dolci offers a dining experience not usually available to college students.

“I think it’s important to have an opportunity to experience a five course meal if you don’t have the budget for it,” said Emily. “It’s cool to be able to eat in such a formal setting.”

Dolci’s attendance rates have always been high, thanks to its reputation for creative and scrumptious food. Past Dolci dinner themes have ranged from Modernist to Southern Comfort to Art History to Everything Bacon. Anna Flinchbaugh ’14’s Harry Potter Dolci dinner this past fall was so popular that 130 students signed up to fill the usual 80 seats.

Spring promises seven similarly original meals, including a dinner devoted to vegetables of the Allium family like onions, garlic, leeks, and chives; South American surf and turf featuring scallops drizzled in cilantro lime pesto; a dinner inspired by New York restaurants; and an all-chocolate dinner. The endless variety of dinner themes reflects the range of student cooks on campus.

“If you know a person really well and you’re eating their food it’s kind of fun to see what they put together and how their menu might be a reflection of themselves because it ends up being really personal,” said Ben.

Although Kleber has not yet finalized her theme, she and her co-chef Sara Arno ’14.5 have dreamed of leading a Dolci dinner since they were freshmen.

“We have gone to many Dolci’s and I’ve always been super impressed by how the students are able to execute everything,” Kleber said.

The daughter of a chef, Kleber enjoys cooking as a source of calm and connection.

“For me, cooking is something that I do as a way to relax and calm down…I think it’s very therapeutic,” she said. “And the social aspect of food and cooking is great. I find that important, to be able to make connections and friendships.”

Ben and Emily share a similar view of cooking. They grew up making pancake breakfasts together and eventually worked in a restaurants and bakeries in high school.

“Dolci is kind of what brought me to Middlebury,” Ben said. “I heard about it at the information session, and I was sold.”

Indeed, the infrastructure Dolci offers — a clean, professional cooking space and a variety of equipment and ingredients — is very unique to the College and a perfect opportunity for students who want to explore food beyond their limited dorm kitchens.

Dolci continues to expand and evolve thanks to increased funding in recent years. Over their run as co-presidents, Ben and Emily hope to increase the number of dinners offered and perfect the dining experience in Atwater.

“When you’re sitting with seven other people and you only know one of them and it’s family style, you feel kind of awkward. I’d like to see if there’s a way in the future to make the dining experience better,” Emily said.

First and foremost, however, the siblings are committed to promoting community and creativity around food, both on campus and beyond.

To learn more about Dolci or sign up for a spring dinner, check out go/dolci. On most Wednesdays at 9 p.m., you can enter your name into a lottery for a pair of tickets to dinner served on Friday at 6 p.m.