About Dolci

Dolci is Middlebury’s student-run fine dining restaurant, founded by Jill Santopietro ’99 in the winter of 1998. Dolci has taken on various forms over the years, but the focus has remained on providing high quality dining experiences to the student community, and giving those with a passion for food the opportunity to plan and execute these meals in a professional setting. Dolci dinners first took place in Chateau, under the guidance of Chef Richard O’Donohue, and later in Proctor Dining Hall. Now, Dolci dinners are prepared and served in the Atwater Dining Hall with the help and supervision of Chef Ian Martin, Director of Dining Dan Detora, and the Atwater staff.

While Dolci dinners used to occur once every week or two, three to five dinners per semester is now more common as Dolci transitions back to normal operations post-Covid. In 2023, Dolci successfully increased dining capacity to 104 for each dinner (from 88) and began introducing other types of events (food trucks, pop-ups, etc.) that seek to reach more of the campus community and serve as an opportunity to cook and share food beyond the traditional multi-course meal format.