Monday evening, members of the De Veer family and senior leaders at Meta Corp greeted guests to a convivial short ceremony followed by dinner at the new, about to open the following day, Olive Garden, @Gloria.
According to Zach Reams, Learning and Development partner at Darden International, Olive Garden is the leading restaurant in the Italian dining segment with more than 1,800 restaurants around the globe, and more than 96,000 employees. On Tuesday, Aruba welcomed its first Olive Garden, ready to serve us daily from 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM, for lunch and dinner.
The ribbon was cut by the cutest family member of the 5th generation, the 4th Gerard de Veer, who helped Eddie de Veer with the giant scissors. Guests were then invited to be seated in the intimate dining room, for cocktails and a taste of the menu. More than a taste: It was dinner.
In his informal address de Veer explained Meta Corp is growing again after seven years of relative calm. Mid-pandemic management decided to undertake a few dynamic growth initiatives, embracing the family’s long-standing, famous tradition of expansion.
Among initiatives evident from recent developments, a substantial investment in the Apex cement bagging plant, a substantial investment in a propane gas storage facility, capable of receiving gas in bulk shipments, the acquisitions of the Antillean Soap Company in Curaçao and its ongoing upgrade and best of all, in December 2020, the inauguration of the Gloria complex, named Gloria in honor of the company’s first movie theater, commemorating the 100th year anniversary, of the oldest, private enterprise in Aruba.
De veer was visibly pleased to welcomed guests to the inauguration of the Olive Garden, a lovely new addition to Gloria’s collection of popular eateries.
Those familiar with the brand appreciated the many new design features, especially the indoor and outdoor terrace seating, and the long, inviting bar.
I got a tour of the kitchen, all stainless-steel equipment and cutting-edge technology, custom built to meet Olive Garden’s international standards.
The pre-opening effort of the Olive Garden, also enjoyed the expertise of Darden’s International Roberto Rojas Tejas, Director of operation franchise, who brought to Aruba an impressive army of trainers and coaches with international experience, to share their Food & Beverage knowledge with a just-recruited local team, many of whom have never worked in any restaurants before.
In addition to inhouse training, a great number of staffers attended intensive courses at the Darden training center in Orlando Florida, and came back to Aruba eager to demonstrate what they learned about high level of service and delicious food.
Nice touch: Besides the pictures of drop-dead gorgeous Italian seaside villages on the Olive Garden’s walls, a bank of TVs streams live, from Venice, from the Bridge of Spiers. The Live Cam of Ponte delle Guglie is a fun feature, with people crossing the Cannaregio Canal, and boats speeding to the Grand Canal, in real time. I hear it was Eduardo de Veer’s inspired idea.
Olive Garden, like all other outlets @Gloria is owned and operated by Meta Corp through its subsidiary E. De Veer chain theaters, better known as, The Movies.
This enterprise was started by the De Veer’s great grandfather in 1920 and Gloria is the name of the first cinema, by E. De Veer chain theater, and the previous incarnation of Meta Corp.
De Veer also took the opportunity to introduce a familiar personality, Bas Olde Riekerink, the just-recruited Managing Director, a resident of Aruba for more than 20 years, who returned from an assignment there, to assume leadership @Gloria. Bas, an experience hotelier, joined the team on June 6th, and was warmly welcomed by the entire Meta Corp family.
Olive Garden’s manager is the dedicated Amarylis van Boekel.
De Veer directed special thanks to Felix, Gerardo Jr, and Amarylis who escorted the project from start to opening day.
Among famous appetizers on the menu: Never Ending Dipping Sauces and Breadsticks; $9 Take Home Entrees; Stuffed Pastas; extra delicious Alfredos with Shrimp, Seafood or Chicken, and Create Your Own Pasta, a mix & match possibility.
Weekday lunch is served from 11am to 3pm, listing favorites such as Spaghetti & Meatballs, Lasagna Classico, Chicken Parmigiana and Shrimp Scampi. The desserts are yummy, I tried them all.
