Au Bon Pain, above, is old news to Laura Seagram. What she really wanted to talk about was the similar change going on at Pierpont Commons on North Campus. There, the university-run Commons Cafe on the first floor has, like the University Club, closed, and in its place will be the Fireside Cafe.

Doesn’t that sound cozy? The way Seagram describes it, it’s more of a five-ring circus, with different stations including a hearth oven for pizza, a “chef performance station,” and a rotation of visiting restaurants. She says it will be open by the beginning of fall semester. At press time this seemed a little optimistic, since the main floor of Pierpont was a construction site.

Down in the basement, the food court status is quo. Beanster’s Cafe, Panda Express, and Quiznos will continue there. (The trio of women running Quiznos on a slow August day all shrugged their shoulders and said they’d never heard of the fourth restaurant listed on the signage, called Leonardo’s.)

The sushi counter run by Panda Express on the main floor will also stay, says Rachel Limb at the Pierpont information desk, though it’s closed until the Fireside construction is finished. Over the summer, visiting vendors like Ahmo’s, Jamaican Jerk Pit, and Earthen Jar, were running a makeshift food operation in the lobby of Pierpont. Limb says these and Panda are four of the local restaurants that will be participating in the Fireside Cafe.