The ASUCD Coffee House, 50 years old this year, throws itself a four-day anniversary party next week, May 14-17, with staff members wearing the styles of decades past and playing the music of those eras — all the while serving up the home cooking that UC Davis has loved since 1968.

“The entire CoHo team is extremely excited to celebrate 50 years on the UC Davis campus,” said Darin Schluep, CoHo career staff since 2000 and the director since 2012. (He started his Coffee House career even before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2006.)

Today’s team is also quite proud of continuing the CoHo tradition of providing inexpensive, made-from-scratch meals that have become part of UC Davis history (think chicken tetrazzini!).

The Coffee House began as a sawdust-on-the-floor, Bohemian-style café in the old East Hall (where Dutton Hall stands today), moved to the east wing of the Memorial Union in 1973 and eventually to the west side of the MU in 1990, becoming a multiplatform dining destination serving more than 8,000 customers daily.

When it opened, the CoHo had an all-student staff, and it’s pretty much the same today — only with a lot more of them (350-plus) and a full-time staff of seven. Next week’s speakers series pays tribute to all of the CoHo’s hard-working students — past, present and future — by bringing back three staff alums to talk about the CoHo’s role in their lives as students and in their careers.

Each talk is scheduled from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the CoHo’s southwest dining room; admission is free and open to the public. Here are the speakers:

• Monday, May 14 — Joe Sasto ’10, kitchen supervisor, Bachelor of Arts degree in communication. He took first place in an episode of Food Network’s Chopped in 2016, and went on to appear in Season 15 of Bravo TV’s Top Chef, last winter, coming in third. He is the executive chef at Cal Mare in Los Angeles.
• Tuesday, May 15 — TJ Adams-Falconer ’13, barista supervisor, Bachelor of Arts in communication. He is a strategic communications consultant in Washington, D.C., where he previously worked as media affairs manager in the Obama administration.
• Wednesday, May 16 — Karina Harris ’10, kitchen staff, Bachelor of Arts in communication. She is the founder and chief executive officer of Waffles & Honey Jewelry, named after her childhood pets. She opened the online store in the fall of 2013 after her passion for collecting and designing jewelry grew into a small business.

50th anniversary reception

The anniversary week also includes a reception for all Coffee House student employees and career staff, past and present, to celebrate the CoHo’s impact and historical importance on the UC Davis campus. Speakers will include Bob Black, ASUCD president when the CoHo was founded; and Sharon Coulson, who retired in 2012 after nearly 30 years as the CoHo director.

The reception is scheduled from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 17, in the CoHo’s southwest dining room. Food and beverages (from the CoHo, of course) will be provided. Please RSVP by sending an email to Darin Schluep, or call him at 530-752-3385.

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