"The University calls the main store for pretty much everything they need catered," Anthony Sarkis says. "We get six or seven catering calls a day, mostly from Harvard."

According to Sarkis, with the quality of C'est Bon's food and service, it was only natural that the University would call on them for official functions.

"People [from the University] start taking the menus, and they start calling," he says.

And when the University began to make its plans for the new Barker Center, that contact paid off.

C'est Bon, says Elizabeth Randall, capital project manager for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences physical resources, was one of only three restaurants considered for the Barker Center slot. The others were Calla Lily-another local coffee shop-and a new Harvard Dining Services restaurant.

"The architect kept talking about a good cup of coffee," Randall says.

She says C'est Bon's inclusion on the list stemmed in part from recommendations by faculty in the Afro-American Studies Department, which was located on Mass. Ave. next to C'est Bon at the time, and is now housed in the Barker Center.

Randall says the store's good ratings placed it ahead of the other two contenders.

C'est Bon's store in the Chestnut Hill Atrium Mall received consistently high ratings on cleanliness, efficiency and courtesy, Randall says.

The Barker placement worked out, and so when the time came to choose a restaurant for Boylston Hall, the choice was clear.

Due to both C'est Bon's success and the less-than-desirable Boylston location, Randall says, no other restaurants were seriously considered before an offer was made to C'est Bon.

"We don't think that Boylston attracts the kind of traffic that Barker does," she explains.

Anthony Sarkis is confident that C'est Bon is here to stay on the Harvard campus.

"When Harvard is renovating a building, they give us a call," he says.

Just as C'est Bon contributes to life at Harvard, Harvard has contributed immensely to the restaurant's success.