Chartwells Higher Ed’s Supper Club program combines nostalgia and sophistication to create an immersive dining experience

Diners at Central Michigan University recently had the opportunity to experience a glamorous Italian fine dining night, an event featuring a pasta dinner with a table-side parmesan experience, live music from the school’s jazz band and even a red carpet with a best-dressed contest. This event came to life as a part of a new Supper Club program from Chartwells Higher Education, the university’s foodservice provider.

The idea for the program was sparked after the success of the company’s JoyFul program, an initiative that brings different events to foodservice operations.  

“After the success of our award-winning JoyFul campaign, we designed Supper Club as a way to create elevated communal experiences for students to gather in a family-style dining setting,” said Henry Howard, senior vice president of marketing at Chartwells Higher Education.

The theme behind the Supper Club program combines nostalgia and sophistication. Nostalgia has notably emerged as a major trend for college diners, said Howard.

“Research shows that our current student body is craving nostalgic and immersive dining experiences, and Supper Club became the perfect opportunity to offer something truly unique to students,” he said. “We have seen an uptick in nostalgic and 'newstalgic' dining – modern twists on classic comforts. Our exceptional culinary teams are listening and developing these delicious programs that highlight the needs of our student body.”

In fact, according to consumer research company GWI, Gen Z appears to be the most nostalgic generation overall.

Insights from Chartwells’ student advisory board, dubbed Ignite, also helped contribute to the creation of Supper Club. The events are tailored to each campus, ranging from a fine dining Italian night, like at Central Michigan University, to dim sum or regional barbeque.

“We developed a program that could be customized based on the particular campus’ desires or needs and gives our teams the freedom to determine which Supper Club theme they would like to host,” said Howard.

The goal behind Supper Club is to unite students through food, while going beyond the traditional dining experience.

“At its core, Supper Club is designed to bring students together around shared tables to enjoy a delicious meal, foster engaging conversations, and make meaningful, lifelong connections,” said Howard.

Diners experience fine dining at Central Michigan University

The fine dining Italian night at Central Michigan University was such a success that the team already has a second event scheduled for Dec. 3. To attend the event, diners must simply sign up in advance and the team had a goal of 50 attendees for the first event. The second event reached 50 sign-ups within two days of it being posted, so they expanded capacity to 75 diners.

On the menu for the night was a four-course meal featuring a caprese salad and focaccia with olive oil, alfredo with a tableside parmesan experience and a charcuterie board. The team also served up lemon parmesan breaded chicken cutlets, panko crusted eggplant, spicy vodka sauce spaghetti, garlic roasted potatoes, and sauteed green beans. And to finish out the meal on a sweet note diners could enjoy tiramisu and Italian ice.

The menu for the event featured classic Italian fare.

“The students loved having something different to eat, having an event and space to spend time with friends. They feel this makes their meal plans feel worth it,” said Amy Probst, Chartwells Higher Education marketing director at Central Michigan University.

Probst said that the tableside parmesan experience was a big hit with diners.

“My favorite part was the tableside parmesan as well. It truly gave the students a taste of what fine dining looks like and provided an interactive experience with the chefs, it was fun to watch the chefs do their thing while engaging with the students,” she said.

And the event went beyond just the food served, the dining team went all out on decorations—they used drape to liven up the space, a neon Supper Club sign was on display and they decorated with string lights. They also turned off the overhead light to create a fine-dining ambiance and used cluster centerpieces made with dried flowers, table tea lights and gold menu sign holders. The color theme for the table décor and linen was black and green.

Students also had the opportunity to walk the red carpet in their best outfits and compete in a best-dressed contest. Another popular aspect of the night, said Probst, was a selfie wall, which students decorated with polaroid selfies.

“The selfie wall was the most popular part of the night,” she said.

The dining team also had a fun experience hosting the event. While Probst said that at first the concept seemed daunting, the team quickly got on board once they started collaborating on ideas and planning the event.

“At the end of the event it was really fun to see what we could do as a team, especially outside of our norm. We all had fun contributing and making it come to life for our students,” she said.

The biggest challenge with the event was initially spreading awareness and getting diners to sign up. The team navigated this challenge by switching to a reservation system, with a goal of 50 attendees. The event had a good turnout with 45 diners in attendance.

Planning the event took a lot of coordination, said Probst, who noted that it took about a month to put the event together. The team took a lot of effort discussing how to get diners excited about a fine dining experience.

“I think that if we didn’t do the red-carpet and best dressed contest, students wouldn’t have appreciated the fine dining experience as much as they did, they truly elevated the experience by showing up in their finest clothes,” she said.

Chartwells’ Supper Club program promotes community

The University of Utah also recently hosted a Supper Club event with an Italian theme. On the menu for its event was a bread appetizer, an arugula parmesan salad and caprese salad, chicken Milanese, Italian sausage and peppers, eggplant Milanese and penne with spicy vodka sauce. For sides the dining team served garlic green beans and roasted cauliflower. They also served Italian soda to complement the meal and cream puffs, cannoli, gelato and affogato for dessert.

Overall, Howard said, Chartwells’ college site operators have enjoyed hosting Supper Club events so far, they’ve especially appreciated the creativity the events allow.

“This event invites our teams to get creative in ways that may be new to them, which has been very rewarding,” he said.

And feedback from the diners themselves has also been positive, who appreciate the community-oriented theme of the program.

“My favorite part is seeing students gather around great meals and make genuine connections through our programs. For a generation that often feels isolated, this program is a way to help them build their own communities,” said Howard.