The new program is among the first of its type in the nation to open on a college campus. In its pilot year, Heritage Kitchen will host different international and unique cuisine offered in weekly rotation by five local businesses. The new station officially opened promptly at 11 a.m. on August 26, the first day of classes.

Open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., the Heritage Kitchen concept grew out of students’ love of Quinnipiac’s diverse food truck offerings together with student input provided to Quinnipiac’s Dining Services Advisory board. It dovetails neatly with a new program developed by Compass Group USA, the parent company of Chartwells, which oversees Quinnipiac Dining Services.

“This is actually the first in the country for Chartwells, where we’re giving a food truck a brick-and-mortar space,” said Norbert Ponte Jr., Chartwells’ resident district manager at Quinnipiac. “We’re still going to have the food trucks outside, but now we have this opportunity that will be strictly indoors as a new spot for them.”

Chartwells partners with Connecticut-based Food Fleet Inc. to charter both the outdoor trucks on campus and those that will be pulling up to staff the Heritage Kitchen station on a weekly basis.

“We’ve been doing a food truck program at the university for many years,” said Chessie Scott, senior operations manager with Food Fleet.  “We’ve had a great relationship with Chartwells. We really wanted to showcase some local businesses, put the emphasis on the story behind some of the vendors that we have, and at the same time bring in some variety to the students and allow them to taste some meals from around the world.”

Executive Chef for Quinnipiac Dining Services Timothy Pratt said he feels Quinnipiac is ideally suited for this new type of venue.

“I think Quinnipiac has a pretty diverse population of students, and the different types of food trucks that are going to be coming in are going to be a wide variety, catering to all sorts of cuisines and ethnicities,” said Pratt. “The trucks all have a week to themselves, and it will be really nice for the students to see the same food truck in here for each week. I think it’s going to be great.”

Stamford Connecticut based Taste of Grill, featuring Mediterranean cuisine, was the new program’s inaugural food truck to experience a week of indoor service. A digital monitor display at the station highlighted Taste of Grill owner-operator Mo Mamoun. Quick notes shared the story of Mamoun, originally from Bangladesh, who is inspired by his mother’s cooking.

“We’re very excited to be here,” said Taste of Grill manager Arek Kulikowski. “We’ve been on campus before with our truck; so, while this is a new experience for all of us today, Quinnipiac students know our food already, and they’re excited that we’re here."

As Kulikowski and his team set up to serve the day’s offerings, Chartwells Unit Marketing Manager Lexi Pepe ’24 was behind the lens, taking Instagram-worthy photos of each dish to help spread the news to the Quinnipiac community about the university’s newest dining experience.

“We’re showcasing it on a bunch of our platforms so we can let everyone know what’s here,” said Pepe. “Having the dining hall collaborate with local food trucks is so great, and having this kind of innovation right inside the hall is amazing.”

Victoria Pernick ’26, an occupational therapy major, came by to check out the new station with her friends on its first day of operation.

“I think that it’s really exciting,” said Pernick. “Me and my friends always go to the food trucks. It’s cool that they’re going to be in here too, so it will accessible more often."

Heritage Kitchen’s quick and easy service accepts dining meal plan points via QCard as well as QCash, credit cards, or cash.

“I like this concept for sure,” said Sarthi Shah ’26, an occupational therapy major. “It’s new, and I think more students will go here.”