What Happened to Abela’s Kitchen?

By: Aya Aboshady

@Aya_Abuchadiee

The University Food Services announced on August 1 that AUC’s main cafeteria, Abela’s Kitchen, had closed down. According to the Student Union (SU), a new food operator is supposed to open its doors in mid-October.

“As far as we understand, the main reasons why Abela’s Kitchen is no longer part of the ecosystem at the university [is because of] the bug incidents that occurred several times last spring, as well as the general quality problem,” said SU Vice-President Salma Ehab.

Last spring, a number of students reported through the Facebook Group, Rate AUC Professors that they had found bugs in the food they bought from Abela’s Kitchen.

Ehab mentioned that the student complaints definitely led to Abela closing down. She added that the SU has been trying to communicate and understand the university’s strategy in terms of what’s next for the food services.

The SU learned that this time the  University Food Services are taking their time and are putting a lot of effort in  being really selective to ensure the best quality possible.

“We reserve to comment on previous vendors’ departure as we wish to focus on the future and bring better services for the AUC community,” Executive Director of the Office of Procurement Services Ibrahim Yacoub told The Caravan.

“We are working with AUC Procurement Office to secure an alternative,” he said.

Yacoub stressed that the process is in no way slow-paced, but rather following a very tight timeline. He explained that for such a huge operation, enough time is necessary to reach the best conclusion for the selection process.

Ehab expects that the new food outlet will operate either in early or mid-October.

“Hopefully, with the new food provider, students will no longer have to deal with any more incidents,” she said.

The SU also plans on improving the food services at AUC starting with the SU Market, which had for three years been prohibited from selling food, but is now serving pizza which sells out every single day. With these projects progressing, they are working towards finding a temporary solution for Abela’s departure.

“We’re planning on expanding the different food varieties and outlets since they’re strongly decreasing. Soon, we’re going to open our own store so that students will have several food options on campus. We want to enhance the food services at the university through our own outlets,” Ehab added.

The SU is currently looking to collaborate with multiple startups off campus, which are known for food variety, freshness and cleanliness. This is specifically for the dorm residents who need alternative food vendors as soon as possible.

“I don’t like the fact that the only food outlets that currently exist on campus provide unhealthy, junk food. Nothing other than Abela’s Kitchen served fresh salad. And when it closed down, because nothing else is open 24/7, I had to start buying my own groceries to cook,” said dorm resident and Political Science junior, Kariman Hegazy.

“We hope the new cafeteria is a marked improvement, and that we can maintain a full-time d ining option on campus,” said William Trub, senior director of residential life.