By Sophie Sandberg
De Montfort University has welcomed the campus’s first vegan and vegetarian lunch venue as the latest contribution to the £136 million campus transformation project.
The initiative to open a food court which primarily serves vegan and vegetarian alternatives came from the university’s Vegetarian and Vegan society.
The society sees the opening of the new restaurant as a positive change as it helps vegetarian and vegan students to feel more at home on campus.
The chairperson of the university’s Vegetarian and Vegan society, Dinah Lowe, said: “I personally think it’s really beneficial for students with a variety of dietary choices and needs to be considered as the campus is so diverse and this naturally comes with the introduction of vegan and veggie lifestyles and keeps growing.”
Rebecca Reddan, contract director of Chartwells, the catering firm that runs the café, said that it is getting busier now as more and more people know about its existence and business is therefore starting to flourish.
She also revealed that some of the bestsellers have been their butternut and sweet potato Thai orange curry, their pecan brownies and their polenta cake.
Miss Reddan explained:
“The Riverside Café is focusing on health, mentality and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
“We are offering food and cakes which can all be made vegan or vegetarian and most of what is offered is gluten-free.”
The café also supplies a daily selection of food and cakes as an attempt to not limit students by offering varied and interesting food choices to choose from.
In addition to this you can also customise your own salad out of a large selection of fresh vegetables and other seasonal products.
The new café is based on the bankside of the river Soar on the ground floor of the Vijay Patel Building and is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 10pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 8.30am to 3pm during term time.
