Marriott
Hospitality Culinary Innovation Center

In this technologically advanced facility, students in the School of Hospitality Business Management gain priceless experience that helps them succeed in hospitality-industry businesses worldwide.

Dining room

If you’re a hospitality business management student, this elegant, 120-seat dining room provides you with unique, hands-on learning experiences. Here you’ll manage events and receptions, acting as host, chef, or server.

Venue for events

The dining room hosts guest lectures and career previews as well as breakfast, lunch, and dinner events catered by Carson College students. Students employed by Hospitality Catering Services  use the dining room to plan, prepare, and execute events for clients throughout the university. Events range from 4-person lunches to the 120-guest Feast of the Arts banquet, held on home football game weekends.

“Business of wine” classroom

The Center was designed to support teaching the principles of food and wine pairing.  A separate, but fully integrated, classroom connects directly to the dining room to provide a private dining or reception area. A temperature-controlled wine cellar showcases products of local wineries. It can hold 1,000 bottles of wines from Cougar-connected wineries, favorites of the University’s Wine-by-Cougars wine club.

Hidden audiovisual equipment and theatrical lighting control systems support classes, events, and presentations. A parallel corridor offers intimate seating with skylights or aristocratic ambience for an event buffet, reception, hors d’oeuvres, or wine tasting.

Kitchen

The fully equipped kitchen supports School of Hospitality Business Management culinary courses, as well as hands-on learning experiences in which you prepare culinary delights for dining room guests.

Culinary lab for instruction

When it’s time for class, instructors in the School of Hospitality Business Management use the facility as a culinary lab, with four fully equipped teaching stations that give small groups of students a firsthand exposure to state-of-the-art, restaurant-grade equipment. At the heart of the kitchen is the teacher demonstration area. Overhead viewing mirrors let you watch your professors cook or bake—before practicing yourself on 1 of 4 individual student stations.

Production kitchen for events

Hospitality Catering Services uses the facility as a fully functioning production-style kitchen to produce food for the Atrium Café  and other catering events. Students gain hands-on experience in food preparation, whether it’s as simple as baking cookies for 6 people or as complex as making a 4-course wine pairing dinner for 120.