One of the most anticipated weeks of the quarter returned with sips, sweets and shopping. Associated Students of UC Irvine (ASUCI) hosted the winter quarter Vendor Fair on Ring Road from Feb. 10-14. The quarterly event connected students to local businesses across Orange County.
Third-year environmental engineering student Joshua Tang said he enjoys when the Vendor Fair comes to campus.
“[It brings] a lot of people out and gives people more reason to spend more time on campus,” Pang told New University.
When asked about his favorite products at the fair, Pang commended Dolce Monachelli’s for their deals and convenience.
“I just bought some mini cakes over there for 20 bucks for eight, and they gave two free cakes in there too, so I would say it’s a good price for college students,” Pang said.
Dolce Monachelli’s is a local bakery that specializes in gourmet bundt cakes. The owner, Chris Monachelli, praised students for their continued support every quarter.
“It’s always excellent. Every year [we] get busier, busier, it’s hard to keep up with how crazy you guys support our little family business because every year we have to make more and more cakes to keep up with it,” Monachelli told New University.
Dolce Monachelli’s started selling their cakes at the University Town Center farmers market years before the Vendor Fair began on campus.
“We were a local vendor at the farmers market. We’ve been a local bakery in Orange County for the last 25 years or so,” Monachelli said. “We’ve been doing this long enough where we’ve had a couple of generations of people buy these cakes.”
Dolce Monachelli’s offers flavors ranging from classic Italian rum and red velvet to lavender honey and churro bundt cakes, all made with the same family recipe that keeps students coming back for more.
Additionally, Monachelli’s offered free samples for students to grab and share with friends between classes.
“It’s something easy, something good on the go and tastes amazing,” Monachelli said. “And also, they’re good little gifts, you can share with friends, roommates. It brings people together, you know — food.”
Fourth-year cognitive science student Wandy Kongmebhol shared how the atmosphere of Ring Road during the Vendor Fair creates more opportunities for connection on campus.
“I think more students come on campus and they are more motivated to walk around and especially come with friends and just hang out and look around,” Kongmebhol told New University.
Kongmebhol also shared the vendors she is always excited to visit during the Vendor Fair.
“I’m most excited for obviously the cakes, but I’m also really excited for, I think it’s like the Thai tea, Eastern Tales because I’m Thai, so whenever I see other Thai booths I get really excited,” Kongmebhol said.
Supanut Sarutavaraphong graduated from UCI in 2020 and founded Eastern Tales eight months ago. Eastern Tails is now preparing to open its second location in Orange County.
“We offer authentic Thai tea. Real Thai tea, real taste,” Sarutavaraphong told New University. “I’m from Thailand myself. I graduated from here as well. I drink a lot of Thai tea out here, but it doesn’t taste like the one I have back in Thailand. So my mission for this business is to kind of bring authentic tea from Thailand out here for the Southern California people to try out and get the taste.”
Eastern Tales offers a variety of fruit teas, along with their signature Bangkok Thai Tea and darker roast Phuket Thai Tea. Eastern Tails focuses on providing authenticity and no added sugar in their tea.
“My goal is to get people to drink bubble tea every day. A lot of people out here maybe associate bubble tea with a lot of sugar, a lot of unhealthy drinks, but my goal is to make that drink healthy,” Sarutavaraphong said.
Sarutavaraphong emphasized the importance of understanding his customer base as a new business and how the Vendor Fair provides a valuable opportunity to connect with the community.
“We started this business about eight months ago. So we really want to come out here, see more people, see our target audience, which is younger, college students,” Sarutavaraphong said.
The Vendor Fair will return to campus during the spring quarter from May 5-9. For more information about the event, visit the ASUCI website.
Melissa Mixon is a Features Intern for the winter 2025 quarter. She can be reached at mixonm@uci.edu.
Edited by Kaelyn Kwon