Most restaurants in Baltimore are looking forward to Restaurant Week on July 20 to 25 for a boost in sales, but the owner of Tabrizi’s would rather spend the week serving the homeless.
Tabrizi’s owner, Michael Tabrizi is working with homeless shelters in Baltimore to bring the members of the homeless community in the city to his restaurant to celebrate Restaurant Week. He had already decided on the menu: Cordon Bleu chicken with sage sauce, salad, side dishes and sparkling apple cider. Ice cream will be served for dessert. The Mediterranean restaurant usually provides catering services for large events.
The homeless will be fed for free during the special week, which, according to Tabrizi will cost him about $20,000, and he is taking the funds out of his own pocket. He will be losing more because he’ll be closing his restaurant for the whole week. However, he is very happy with his decision and many of his regular employees have already volunteered to serve during the event and have refused to be paid.
Special customers
Tabrizi hopes to feed more than a thousand homeless members of the community. Volunteers will shuttle them to and from their homeless shelters. The special meals will be available three times a day from July 20 to 25. He said that he decided to do the event as his way of giving back to the community and because he feels that the homeless suffer from hopelessness and stripped of dignity aside from suffering from hunger. He said that he wants them to feel that they are being cared for even if only for a short time.
He turned to his restaurant’s Facebook page to ask for volunteers to help him organize what he called Homeless Restaurant Week and gave the details of the menu for the occasion. Now he finds that he has more volunteers aside from his staff. He said that instead of them helping out in the meal preparation, the volunteers will be invited to dine with his special guests.
Michael Tabrizi is working with the Baltimore City Concierge Association. The association is a professional organization of workers in the hospitality industry and Tabrizi is requesting for their help in bringing 150 guests to the restaurant for six days.
Image Copyright : By Lilyana Vynogradova / 123rf.com
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