ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Olive Garden
Italian Restaurant, the leading restaurant in the Italian dining
segment with more than 750 restaurants, will open its first
location in Alaska on Monday, Jan. 23, creating 165 jobs. The
restaurant is a division of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI),
the world's largest full-service restaurant operating company.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120123/FL39349 )
"We are excited to open the first Olive Garden in Alaska and are honored to join the
Anchorage community," said
Dan Kiernan, executive vice
president of operations for Olive Garden. "Our team here in
Anchorage is looking forward to
delivering a great dining experience for all of our guests."
The Olive Garden menu features Italian specialties including
signature items such as homemade soups, garden fresh salad and
warm, garlic breadsticks, as well as limited-time offerings.
Unlimited soup or salad and breadsticks come with all entrees or
are served as a meal. Guests at Olive Garden will find great value
and choice for lunch and dinner.
Olive Garden also offers Garden Fare options which allow guests
to personalize their Italian meal to help meet their dining needs.
Substitutions are offered for any side dishes to accommodate a
guest's meal, including lower in fat and carbohydrate options, as
well as gluten-free versions of some favorite Olive Garden
recipes.
The new 7,441 square-foot restaurant hosts up to 246 guests and
features a design that is inspired by traditional farmhouses found
in Tuscany, Italy. Olive Garden
design teams traveled to Italy to
work with Italian architects Fabio and
Lucia Zingarelli and the result is a restaurant design that
recreates the warmth and simple beauty of a Tuscan farmhouse.
The Anchorage Olive Garden has a rustic stone exterior, typical
of the buildings in the Italian countryside, and an interior
accented by Italian imports designed to make the dining experience
here a tribute to the restaurant's Italian inspiration. Ceilings
supported by exposed wood beams, stone and wood accents throughout,
and terra cotta tile highlight the interior.
In addition, the bar top is crafted from lava stone and
hand-painted by artisans in Italy
with a design created exclusively for Olive Garden. Vibrant
imported fabrics decorate windows and dining seats, while
hand-painted plates, designed by Lucia herself, adorn rustic stone
and stucco walls. The interior also features lighting fixtures that
are all distinctly Italian.
The restaurant also will feature a number of sustainable design
elements, including recycled building materials, enlarged windows
to increase natural light, low-water landscaping and
energy-efficient equipment. These enhancements are part of
the Sustainable Restaurant Design initiative launched by Darden
Restaurants.
Dawn Bellerose has been named
general manager and will be responsible for leading a team that
maintains the highest quality of food, wine and service -- aiming
to consistently exceed guests' expectations. Bellerose brings
extensive restaurant industry experience to her new position. She
has been with Olive Garden for five years, most recently as general
manager of the Olive Garden in Worcester,
Mass.
To recognize Bellerose's role as head of the Olive Garden family
in Anchorage and to emphasize the
importance the company places on its general managers, Olive Garden
honored Bellerose by setting her name in stone. Travertine marble
imported from Tuscany was chiseled
with Bellerose's name and placed prominently by the restaurant's
front door.
A second Olive Garden location will open in Alaska later this year in South Anchorage. To receive the latest
information on Olive Garden, guests can visit
www.Facebook.com/OliveGarden or sign up for the "Our Family Table"
newsletter at www.OliveGarden.com.
Olive Garden is the leading restaurant in the Italian dining
segment with more than 750 restaurants, more than 88,000 employees
and more than $3 billion in annual
sales. Olive Garden is a division of Darden Restaurants, Inc.
(NYSE:DRI), the world's largest full-service restaurant operating
company. In 2012, Darden was named to the FORTUNE "100 Best
Companies to Work For" list for the second year in a row and
is the only full-service restaurant company to ever appear on the
list. Olive Garden is committed to making a difference in the
lives of others in the local community. As part of this commitment,
the Anchorage Olive Garden will participate in the Darden Harvest
program, which has donated more than 50 million pounds of food to
local community food banks across the country. For more
information, visit www.olivegarden.com.
SOURCE Olive Garden