Iowa Central culinary arts students serve first meal at new Circle One Restaurant
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Iowa Central Community College's culinary arts students served their first meal in the college's new Circle One Restaurant Wednesday afternoon, giving guests a first taste of the on-campus dining experience that will open to the public next week.
The first service welcomed members of the President's Leadership Academy, which is a group of Iowa Central faculty and staff, along with guests from the Iowa Department of Education.
With the fall semester three weeks underway, culinary arts students have spent the first few weeks developing and practicing the skills they need to prepare, serve and operate a restaurant before welcoming their first guests.
Located on the Iowa Central campus, Circle One Restaurant gives culinary arts students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a professional restaurant setting.
The restaurant's name is a reference to the address of the Fort Dodge campus, 1 Triton Circle.
The new restaurant was made possible through nearly $1 million in funding from Iowa's Career Academy Incentive Fund. In February 2025, Iowa Central was awarded more than $944,000 through the competitive grant program to modernize its Culinary Arts Career Academy at the Fort Dodge campus.
The funding supported the development of state-of-the-art kitchen and front-of-house spaces designed around industry-leading culinary technology and collaborative learning. The project also included development of a coffee shop.
For years, Iowa Central's culinary arts program operated out of Willow Ridge Golf Course, providing students with experience in a working restaurant. Circle One brings that experience directly to campus in a modern facility designed specifically for student learning.
Circle One will open for full service Wednesday. Reservations will be available through an online reservation system, which is expected to open by the end of this week.
A ribbon cutting for Circle One Restaurant is planned for later this fall.