OK, OK, so I might be jumping the gun on this one, but with Christmas over I need something to look forward to. Here's the link to Denver Restaurant Week 2010, where 2 people can get a 3-course meal at some of Denver's finest restaurants for $52.80.
http://www.denver.org/denverrestaurant/default.aspx
My wishlist? Fruition, Twelve, Duo and The Squeaking Bean. Or anywhere offering pork belly or rack of lamb. Reserve the big ones early - Mizuna was booked within minutes of being posted on the Restaurant Week website.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Doing Good by Eating
It's Christmastime, which means you bitch about lines at the malls, embarass yourself at your office Christmas party and, hopefully, do some good. Here are a couple of restaurants where doing good will fill you up and delight your tastebuds: SAME Cafe (http://www.soallmayeat.org/) and Cafe Options (http://www.cafeoptions.com/).
SAME (So All May Eat) Café doesn’t charge for its food (which is almost entirely organic and made in-house, by the way). You read that right – their menu comes without a price tag. Customers are encouraged to pay what they can, or what they feel the meal was worth.
On any given day, SAME will be filled with lawyers, ladies who lunch and out of work day laborers. Instead of a cash register, they have a donation box. If someone can’t afford to pay anything, they can trade an hour of washing dishes or helping out for a soup, salad and pizza (or whatever else they want). At SAME, you can even go back for seconds!
SAME’s owners had been volunteering at soup kitchens and homeless shelters for years. While they loved helping down on their luck people get food to eat, they realized it wasn’t the healthiest or the most delicious. Instead of the canned, boxed, preservative-filled food that stocks food banks, the owners of SAME wanted to give those who need it the most real, healthy food.
Somehow, this philosophy of giving away fresh, high-quality food has worked. SAME has been around for 3 plus years, and in this troubled economy, is cooking up more meals than ever.
Café Options, which does charge for their food, is also in the business of bettering our community. This downtown deli is staffed by graduates of Work Options for Women (WOW), a nonprofit that teaches impoverished women culinary skills to obtain employment, gain self-esteem and improve the lives of them and their families. All of Café Options’ proceeds go to WOW.
The Café roasts its own pork and ham and makes soups daily from scratch (I’ve worked in a couple chain bakeries/delis in my time, and none of them did more to make soup than heat up the block of ice corporate sent them). Sandwiches range in price from $6.50-7.25 – a little high for me, but right on par for downtown Denver.
The Cubano I ate at Café Options was excellent, and the knowledge that I was funding a program that helps low-income women get jobs and better themselves made it taste even better. I think I’ll have a hard time getting a sandwich anywhere else.
It’s true that chains give a lot back, too – as they should since they’re making the lion’s share of the profits – but you probably won’t see the CEO of Arby’s telling patrons to pay what they can or what they feel the meal is worth (for one, they’d probably be out of business in about 5 minutes).
If you have any restaurants like SAME Café or Café Options in your neighborhood, I urge you to try them out. You might be surprised by just how good “charity” food can taste. Plus, you'll feel good about where your money is going. I don't think the guy at Chili's can say the same thing.
SAME (So All May Eat) Café doesn’t charge for its food (which is almost entirely organic and made in-house, by the way). You read that right – their menu comes without a price tag. Customers are encouraged to pay what they can, or what they feel the meal was worth.
On any given day, SAME will be filled with lawyers, ladies who lunch and out of work day laborers. Instead of a cash register, they have a donation box. If someone can’t afford to pay anything, they can trade an hour of washing dishes or helping out for a soup, salad and pizza (or whatever else they want). At SAME, you can even go back for seconds!
SAME’s owners had been volunteering at soup kitchens and homeless shelters for years. While they loved helping down on their luck people get food to eat, they realized it wasn’t the healthiest or the most delicious. Instead of the canned, boxed, preservative-filled food that stocks food banks, the owners of SAME wanted to give those who need it the most real, healthy food.
Somehow, this philosophy of giving away fresh, high-quality food has worked. SAME has been around for 3 plus years, and in this troubled economy, is cooking up more meals than ever.
Café Options, which does charge for their food, is also in the business of bettering our community. This downtown deli is staffed by graduates of Work Options for Women (WOW), a nonprofit that teaches impoverished women culinary skills to obtain employment, gain self-esteem and improve the lives of them and their families. All of Café Options’ proceeds go to WOW.
The Café roasts its own pork and ham and makes soups daily from scratch (I’ve worked in a couple chain bakeries/delis in my time, and none of them did more to make soup than heat up the block of ice corporate sent them). Sandwiches range in price from $6.50-7.25 – a little high for me, but right on par for downtown Denver.
The Cubano I ate at Café Options was excellent, and the knowledge that I was funding a program that helps low-income women get jobs and better themselves made it taste even better. I think I’ll have a hard time getting a sandwich anywhere else.
It’s true that chains give a lot back, too – as they should since they’re making the lion’s share of the profits – but you probably won’t see the CEO of Arby’s telling patrons to pay what they can or what they feel the meal is worth (for one, they’d probably be out of business in about 5 minutes).
If you have any restaurants like SAME Café or Café Options in your neighborhood, I urge you to try them out. You might be surprised by just how good “charity” food can taste. Plus, you'll feel good about where your money is going. I don't think the guy at Chili's can say the same thing.
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