The recent grand opening of Tom & Eddie’s in Lombard was the culmination of a year-long collaboration between owners Tom Dentice and Ed Rensi and College of DuPage’s Culinary Arts program.
The partnership included dinners held in COD’s Escoffier Dining Room and approximately $28,000 in generous donations from Dentice and Rensi that are helping support the Culinary Arts program and the College’s new Culinary & Hospitality Center.
“The Culinary program is unbelievable,” Dentice said. “We’ve worked together for more than a year developing our menu and our sauces – learning from each other in the process.”
“College of DuPage is the crown jewel of education in Northern Illinois,” Rensi added.
Rensi, retired CEO of McDonald’s USA, and Dentice, retired executive vice president of Operations and Training of McDonald’s USA, approached the College about helping them with a new restaurant concept. David Kramer, associate professor of Culinary Arts at College of DuPage, said the program worked with Rensi and Dentice to run a mock restaurant this past winter, serving lunches and dinners to more than 1,000 staff, students and community members. Feedback was then used to help Rensi and Dentice tweak recipes and menu items.
“We were the people behind the scenes, helping them with logistics, partnering to get students to help,” Kramer said. “It was an amazing experience that benefitted all sides, including our faculty, students and staff.”
Dentice and Rensi also have shown their support for COD by hiring students. Nearly one dozen COD Culinary students are now employed at Tom & Eddie’s initial location in The Shops at Butterfield in Lombard. Additional locations are expected to open around the Chicago area.
Laura Mannion, Ed.D., assistant vice president of development for the College of DuPage Foundation, said Dentice and Rensi’s support has been invaluable to the school: an initial gift of $10,000, equipment valued at approximately $8,000, supplies/ingredients donated to the program valued at approximately $7,000, and $3,000 from the VIP Party raffle held as part of the grand opening.
“With our initiative to build and outfit the new Culinary & Hospitality Center at the College, we are grateful for corporate partners such as Tom and Eddie’s,” Mannion said.
For more information about COD’s Culinary Arts program, call (630) 942-2720 or visit home.cod.edu/academics/programsDegrees/hospitalityAdmin. For information on the new Culinary & Hospitality Center, scheduled to open in 2011, visit www.cod.edu/facilities_plan.
For more information about the College of DuPage Foundation, call (630) 942-2462 or visit www.cod.edu/foundation.
