STORRS -- A UConn institution has turned a negative incident into a positive. D.P. Dough - Storrs, a chain that dishes calzones, wings, and breadsticks, is weighing in on the viral video and arrest of a student who threw a fit when he was refused service and mac and cheese at the school's dining hall.
Sunday evening, University of Connecticut police arrested Luke Gatti, 19, of Bayville, New York and charged him with breach of peace and criminal trespass. He is accused of walking into the dining hall with a beer, and both physically and verbally assaulting the staff when they wouldn't serve him. Eventually, he is taken to the ground, police arrive, and he's arrested. It was all caught on camera and the story went viral.
A GoFundMe page has been setup to give the Union Street Market staff a "nice night out." You can find more about that here.
D.P. Dough posted about the incident on their Facebook page Tuesday, offering to give Gatti the bacon jalapeno mac and cheese he was yelling for.
Also D.P. Dough Storrs is offering a limited-edition calzone filled with macaroni and cheese, bacon, jalapenos and cheddar cheese. D.P. Dough Storrs owner Cory Hill said the new offering was inspired by the viral video showing UConn student Luke Gatti demanding bacon jalapeno macaroni and cheese from the school's dining hall. It remained on the menu until closing on Wednesday night, but can be ordered as a custom calzone anytime thereafter.
"Who doesn't love mac and cheese and bacon?" said Hill. "And just seeing the video just sparked the idea. A lightbulb went off."
A few hours after the post offering Luke his mac and cheese, the shop said they ran out of mac and cheese, but there was still good news. They made it again Wednesday, and a portion of the proceeds from all of the limited-edition calzones sold Tuesday and Wednesday will go toward UConn's Huskython. "We're going to donate $2 from every calzone we sell," said Hill. "And we're planning on selling about 300 altogether, so that would be $600 that we're looking to donate."
D.P. Dough sold 105 of the calzones on Tuesday night, and had 40 pounds of macaroni and cheese on hand to fill demand through Wednesday night.
"I've been excited all week about getting it," said freshman Jenna Ethridge.
"I don't like jalapeno that often, but this is really good," said junior Kyle Robidoux, after taking a bite of his calzone.
Other local places are getting in on the fun as well. The True Blue Tavern named a specialty item after Gatti.
#UConn restaurants are getting in on the #macandcheesekid fun. "Worth getting arrested for!" http://t.co/alz37lBCEs—
Russell Blair (@RussellBlairCT) October 07, 2015
Gatti is due in court next week.