March 17, 1999

Middlebury College Dining Wins Prestigious 1999

Ivy Award for Excellence in Foodservice

No Other Liberal Arts Colleges or Universities

in the Nation Awarded This Year

Middlebury College has received Restaurants and Institutions

(R&I) magazine’s distinguished Ivy Award for the outstanding

performance of its dining services. The award is one of the oldest

and most prestigious honors in the foodservice industry, and is

only presented to operations that meet the highest standards of

quality in food, hospitality, and service.

Meritorious eating establishments across the country

are nominated for the Ivy in two categories—the restaurant category

and the institutional category. Middlebury College, the only 1999

nominee from the entire state of Vermont, falls into the latter

category, which includes colleges, universities, and hospitals.

Middlebury was the only university or liberal arts college to

receive the 1999 award in the entire country.

According to R&I, the highest standards of professional

operation in foodservice can only be accurately assessed by those

actually in the business. The magazine established the Ivy Award

29 years ago to give professionals in the industry the opportunity

to do just that, and thereby honor their peers. Selected each

year by previous Ivy recipients, winners are selected by vote

of the 162,000 readers of R&I. The award winners are then

inducted into the Ivy Society at a formal, invitation-only annual

dinner.

Director of Middlebury Dining Services Peter Napolitano

is extremely proud of this achievement. “What

makes this award more outstanding to me is that this is a team

award. It is the result of a dedicated staff focusing on the details

of customer service and providing the highest quality food in

surroundings that are clean, comfortable, and convenient. Our

goal has been to provide our customers with world class food and

service. Winning the Ivy Award validates our commitment to that

goal.”

Other nominees this year included Stanford University

of California, Massachusetts General Hospital of Boston, and the

University of California at Los Angeles. Joining Middlebury as

inductees are Gramercy Tavern and the Four Seasons Hotel in New

York, Topolobampo in Chicago, City Tavern in Philadelphia, and

Wine Spectator/CIA at Greystone in St.Helena, Calif. The induction

banquet will be held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Chicago in May.