The only full-service restaurant on the Davis Campus is getting a makeover, a new name and a big helping of UC Davis flavor.

The old Silo Café & Pub is closed now for the holidays, but look for it to reopen Jan. 5 as the Gunrock Pub, which, like its predecessor, will employ a wait staff to take your orders and serve your food. The beer and wine bar also will stay.

The UC Davis flavor will come by way of produce from the campus’s new Good Life Garden (located at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science), meat from the university’s Meat Laboratory, and olive oil from the UC Davis Olive Center. The Gunrock Pub also will use produce from the Student Farm and the local Growers Collaborative.

And, from the food to the carryout containers to the garbage, the Gunrock Pub is committed to sustainability, said officials with Sodexo, the company that runs all of the campus’s food services except for the Coffee House.

“The mission of the new restaurant is to showcase the fabulous campus-produced foods and local specialties, and to engage in a sustainable food system,” said Gina Rios, general manager for Sodexo’s retail operations on the Davis Campus.

The Gunrock Pub is named after the university’s mustang mascot. The costumed character is scheduled to help with the ribbon cutting at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 5

Restaurant hours this winter and spring are 11:30 to 2 p.m. weekdays. Sodexo plans a weeklong grand opening celebration, Jan. 5-9, with free dessert for all diners.

People are invited to stop by even if they are not having lunch. Events during the grand opening week include free Meat Lab and olive oil tastings. (See below for the complete schedule.)

The pub’s location, tucked in the back of the Silo Union, makes the restaurant “the best kept secret on campus,” said Robin Clement, marketing and project specialist for Sodexo.

“Unless you know about it, or stumble upon it, you would never know it’s there,” Clement said.

And, yet, she said, there is plenty of reason to go, especially with the restaurant’s new emphasis on campus foods. She said executive chef Ruben Andrade has artfully worked the produce, meats and olive oil into his new menu, and he will use the same products in weekly specials.

One menu item is Gunrock Pasta: "Bowtie pasta tossed with creamy pesto and award-winning UCD Gunrock Olive Oil with cherry tomato and sweet tender asparagus topped with fresh grated parmesan cheese."

Beer and wine, too

Clement said the Gunrock Pub also will showcase local beers and wines. In addition, the restaurant has scheduled themed wine-tasting events the first Wednesday of the month through winter and spring quarters.

The Cal Aggie Alumni Association’s Vintage Aggies Wine Club is co-sponsoring the tastings, called Wednesday Night Wine Flights. The cost is $10 for a tasting of four wines, with no reservations needed. The featured wines will be available for purchase, Clement said.

She said the programs will feature some of today’s finest winemakers, many of whom are UC Davis graduates, plus retired UC Davis enologist Walter Winton as “resident wine expert.” (See below for the complete schedule with all the themes.)

There will be campus flavor in the restaurant’s new artwork, as well. Clement said photos will feature the Good Life Garden, campus vineyards and orchards, and the university’s Wolfskill Ranch and its 150-year-old olive trees.

Design Services, a division of Student Affairs, is in charge of the restaurant's look, which includes tablecloths and new chairs.

Besides food from campus and other local sources, the pub will serve fair trade coffee and teas—further demonstrating the pub’s commitment to a sustainable food system, Clement said.

Carryout orders will be packaged in biodegradable containers, and all of the restaurant’s post-consumer food and paper waste will be hauled away for composting, through a program run by the campus’s R4 Recycling.

R4 (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rebuy) hauls such waste to Jepson Prairie Organics in Vacaville. Then, when the university and Davis-area farmers buy the company’s compost, they are essentially completing the sustainability circle—in which waste is converted to compost, compost becomes fertilizer, and fertilizer boosts new food crops.

During the Gunrock Pub’s grand opening week, R4 Recycling plans a presentation titled “Sustaining Our Future,” from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Jan. 6.

Other opening week highlights include a Good Life Garden showcase and the first Wednesday Night Wine Flight.

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: Gunrock Pub (formerly the Silo Café & Pub)

WHERE: Silo Union (the Gunrock Pub is near the Silo’s back door, on the building’s south side, due west of the Bike Barn).

MENU: Featuring produce from the Good Life Garden (located at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science), meat from the university’s Meat Laboratory, and olive oil from the UC Davis Olive Center. (See the menu on the Gunrock Pub Web site.)

HOURS: 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. weekdays (11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in summer); closed weekends and university holidays. Lunch reservations are encouraged and can be arranged by calling (530) 752-6262.

OTHER INFORMATION: The Gunrock Pub is available for private events and catering. Robin Clement, marketing and project specialist for Sodexo, described the restaurant as “a charming and quaint venue” for lectures, dinners, receptions and socials. The restaurant can accommodate 95 people for sit-down dinners; an additional 85 people can be accommodated on the patio if the weather is suitable. Patio receptions can accommodate 200.

WEB SITE: gunrockpub.ucdavis.edu

GUNROCK PUB OPENING WEEK ACTIVITIES

Monday, Jan. 5
• 11:30 a.m.—Ribbon-cutting ceremony with Gunrock and the Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh!

Tuesday, Jan. 6
• 11:30 a.m-1:30 p.m.—R4 showcase: “Sustaining Our Future,” presented by the campus’s R4 Recycling. Free.

Wednesday, Jan. 7
• 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and 5:30-6:30 p.m.—Centennial Olive Oil tasting. Free.
5:30-6:30 p.m.—Wednesday Night Wine Flight, this month focusing on red wine and chocolate. $10; no reservations needed.

Thursday, Jan. 8
• 11:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m.—Meat Lab tasting. Free.

Friday, Jan. 9
• 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.—Good Life Garden showcase, offering information on walking tours and upcoming special events. Free.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT WINE FLIGHTS

All events are scheduled from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.the first Wednesday of the month. $10; no reservations needed. Co-sponsored by the Cal Aggie Alumni Association’s Vintage Aggies Wine Club.

Jan. 7—Big Winter Reds and Chocolate, four wines to “warm you from the inside out, with chocolate to make you smile.”

Feb. 4—Yolo County Wines, meet the winemakers and taste their products in pairings with local foods.

March 4—Wine Spectator >89