Culture takes the table at the Mulva Cultural Center

Lori Kaye Lodes

Contributor

March 23, 2026

DE PERE – The Mulva Cultural Center is changing its approach to food service.

Earlier this month, the De Pere venue moved away from a full-service restaurant model, ending regularly scheduled evening restaurant service on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at Savour on Broadway.

In its place, Marv Wall, executive director of the Mulva, said the center plans to shift its focus to daytime cafe service, with an operator still to be determined, offering food in a more casual cafe-style format.

In addition, Wall said the Mulva will introduce curated culinary experiences through a culinary partnership model with local chefs and caterers, starting with Runaway Spoon and Chef Tony Phillips, formerly of Chefusion. 

The change, Wall said, reflects the center’s identity as a cultural destination first, culinary destination second.

“When we looked at the mission of the cultural center, it’s to offer food for patrons versus being a food provider,” he said. “The events fit our mission and our brand more than a full-service restaurant does.”

From restaurant to cultural complement

Since opening in 2023, Wall said the Mulva has offered two dining options: the casual Café on Broadway and the full-service Savour on Broadway restaurant.

The café, he said, was intended as a quick-stop option for visitors spending time at the center.

“The café filled more of a quick bite [need],” he said. “You’re here visiting, seeing a film or exhibit and want something quick to eat.”

Wall said Savour on Broadway, on the other hand, provided a more traditional restaurant experience, including Friday fish fries, Sunday brunch and other meals.

However, as the cultural center’s programming and event bookings grew, Wall said a conflict emerged between restaurant dining and private events.

“The full-service restaurant and events have a natural tension,” he said. “If it’s a Friday night with a corporate event, then we have to turn people away from the restaurant.”

At first, Wall said both could co-exist.

But eventually, he said demand forced a decision.

“Which do we want to be?” he said. “One of the two had to win out.”

A new culinary model

Instead of running a restaurant, Wall said the Mulva Cultural Center is transitioning to a model built around partnerships with local culinary providers.

Lunch service, he said, will continue through the café, with a future operator expected to run daytime kitchen operations.

Wall said the shift will allow the center to host curated dining experiences – such as prix fixe dinners, themed meals and special brunches – as special events rather than regular restaurant service.

A prix fixe menu, French for “fixed price,” he said, typically features a multi-course meal offered at a set price with curated selections.

“These will be more periodic scheduled events versus showing up and ordering supper,” he said.

Wall said the format allows the Mulva to design dining experiences that complement its broader cultural programming.

“It’s more the experience,” he said. “Hosting occasional caterers and guest chefs fits our cultural model.”

Wall said the center’s first culinary partners, Runaway Spoon – a husband-and-wife catering team located just blocks away – and Chef Tony Phillips, (formerly of Chefusion), were easy choices.

“Runaway Spoon has an excellent reputation,” he said. “Chef Phillips just came back from an event in Italy and very much fits the cultural model.”

Initially, Wall said the Mulva plans to keep the roster of caterers and events small.

“We don’t want 15 caterers and try and manage that,” he said. “We want to start slow and see what our community will engage with.”

Dining as an experience

Rather than functioning as a nightly restaurant, Wall said future culinary events will be ticketed experiences. 

Guests, he said, will reserve seats ahead of time, often with limited attendance, creating intimate gatherings built around a theme or culinary concept.

“We keep seeing the word ‘special occasion,’” he said.

Wall said events may include supper club-style evenings, exhibition-inspired menus or seasonal gatherings.

Though some meals may connect to current exhibitions, he said that won’t be a requirement.

“We don’t want a Mongolian theme for Genghis Khan for the next three months,” he said. “Yes, we would like some themed to [match] exhibits, but that’s definitely not a requirement.”

Still, Wall said upcoming exhibitions offer plenty of inspiration.

“The possibilities are endless,” he said.

Some events may take place indoors, while Wall said others could take advantage of Mulva’s outdoor spaces. 

The center, he said, features multiple patios overlooking the Fox River, including a covered second-floor terrace and firepit seating areas on the north side of the building.

“In the summer, it’s a nice event space,” he said.

Built for flexibility

Wall said the culinary partnership model also allows visiting chefs to operate independently of Mulva’s kitchen.

The future café operator, he said, will maintain primary use of the kitchen facility, while caterers will prepare food off-site and use the center’s dining spaces for service.

“They don’t need our kitchen facilities,” he said.

Though its dining model has changed, Wall said the Mulva will still provide storage and logistical support, enabling the center to host gatherings from small corporate meetings to large events.

“We can do events for up to 500 guests,” he said.

Wall said that flexibility has already made the Mulva an attractive venue for corporate meetings, weddings and holiday parties.

Last year, he said the center hosted three weddings in addition to numerous events.

Wall said the new approach aims to strengthen that part of the business.

Many of the upcoming culinary events, he said, will also double as perks for members of Mulva Cultural Center.

“What we want to do is hold the first week open just for members of the Mulva to sign up,” he said. “Then it opens to the general public.”

If demand grows, Wall said the center can expand the number of events accordingly.

“We’ll do the first ones and get it right and do a good job,” he said. “Then people will come back, and we can grow as our community asks us to.”

Culture at the center

Wall said the culinary transition comes as the Mulva Cultural Center continues to grow its reputation as a regional cultural destination.

Located along the Fox River in downtown De Pere, he said the center opened in 2023 with a mission of connecting the community through art, history and science.

Wall said visitors encounter a rotating lineup of nationally touring exhibitions, films in the Discover Auditorium, educational programming and family-friendly experiences – with the building itself designed to spark curiosity.

“Our goal was to have a ‘wow building’ to get people in the door and then ‘wow content’ to bring them back,” he said.

Unlike traditional museums with permanent collections, Wall said Mulva changes frequently.

Major exhibitions, he said, rotate throughout the year, with three large traveling exhibits annually plus a seasonal holiday installation.

School groups, Wall said, are a major part of the center’s audience.

Though Brown County students have long had the opportunity to visit exhibits for free, Wall said the Mulva took another step toward accessibility last winter by eliminating admission fees for all visitors shortly before – a move that has helped encourage more visits.

“Free admission reinforces that people can come back again and again,” he said.

That accessibility, Wall said, supports the center’s broader goal of becoming a regular gathering place rather than a one-time attraction.

“We don’t want people to check the box and say, ‘I’ve been there,’” he said.

A reason to return

Wall said the evolution of the Mulva’s dining program reflects that same philosophy.

Food, he said, remains part of the experience, just not the main attraction.

“We weren’t chartered to be an evening restaurant,” he said. “We did a good job of it, but this takes it to another level that we’re able to provide an experience for folks.”

And like the exhibits themselves, Wall said the Mulva’s dining experiences will always be changing.

“We would like to get into a cadence – maybe it’s a Thursday, for example, because Friday is people’s day to go to their favorite place for dinner, but that’s to be determined,” he said. “It’s ‘come check us out and sign up for what you’re interested in.’”

Head to mulvacenter.org for more details.