KNOXVILLE — Ready for the World Café once again will be serving unique international cuisine beginning Monday, Sept. 15.

The first week’s menu, designed by students Jessica Johnston and Hannah Carroll, will include calypso chicken, crab and roasted red pepper strata, pork loin medallions in rosemary demi-glacé, baked penne with roasted vegetables, gnocchi with butternut squash and mushrooms, asparagus with sesame ginger sauce and Tennessee’s own fresh corn and tomato salad.

The international buffet is operated by students in the advanced food production and service management class. It is open from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each Monday through Thursday in the Hermitage Room on the third floor of the University Center.

The Ready for the World Café was the brainchild of John Antun, assistant professor and director of the Department of Retail, Hospitality and Tourism Management. Antun, a certified executive chef with a doctorate in higher education administration, has spent more than 40 years in the hospitality industry and opened and operated four successful restaurants in the New York metropolitan area.

Although ARAMARK, UT’s provider of dining services, supplies the food and its employees do the cooking, students devise the recipes and manage the employees. Students take turns serving as general manager of the café. The café menu changes weekly.

Diners pay $10 for the all-you-can-eat buffet or $8.50 for a plate of food to carry out.

Antun said students chose the name “Ready for the World Café” because their project fits well into the university’s international and intercultural initiative, also called Ready for the World.

The goal of Ready for the World is to transform the campus into a culture of diversity that best prepares students for working and competing in the 21st century. The initiative involves increasing the diversity among students, faculty and staff; infusing the curriculum with international and intercultural content; expanding study-abroad and work-study opportunities; and encouraging students to take advantage of all of these opportunities.

For more information about Ready for the World, see http://www.utk.edu/readyfortheworld/.

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Contacts:

Amy Blakely, (865) 974-5034, amy.blakely@tennessee.edu

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