It's not the SAME old cafe...

                            

I spent yesterday afternoon volunteering at the SAME Cafe here in Denver. An acronym for So All May Eat, SAME is the brainchild of Brian and Libby Birky. After years of volunteering in soup kitchens, they were dismayed to see the poor quality of food that many places serve, but appreciated the sense of dignity and respect that was shown to people from all walks of life. They had a different idea, noble, radical, revolutionary and on the surface - completely financially crazy, to open a cafe that would serve organic, healthy, gourmet food to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. There would be no posted prices, no cash register, only a box for donations. SAME is not a soup kitchen and doesn't give handouts, instead everyone is asked to contribute what they can and if times are tough, customers can trade an hour of washing dishes or mopping the floor for their meal. And it's an idea that works. Run by Brian and a hardworking staff of volunteers, the restaurant is completely sustainable on it's own with no government funding. The donation box provides 90% of their income, and the remainder comes from corporate or individual gifts - a local Whole Foods store donated 5% of yesterday's sales to the cafe.  

The cafe takes it's mission of serving wonderful food seriously. It buys mostly organic ingredients from sources that include local farms, an elementary school garden and the Botanic Gardens. The menu is varied and diverse and changes according to what's in season and available. Yesterday's offerings included Pomegranate Arugula Salad with Raspberry Dressing, Couscous with sun-dried tomatoes, feta and artichokes, Cream of Mushroom Soup, Chicken Artichoke and Sun-dried tomato and Feta Cheese Pizzas, followed by Libby's legendary sugar cookies and Fair Trade Coffee that is ground as it's brewed. A great meal by anyone's standards. 

From my place behind the counter, I served lunch to a mother and her adult daughter on a girls' day out, several guys in suits, two women having a business meeting and an assortment of local characters - all who were unfailing polite, friendly and respectful. Tables with seating for 6 or 8 encourage diners to linger, relax and enjoy the experience together. And afterwards, they all cleared their own dishes. I had a great day, met some wonderful people and saw firsthand how well a crazy idea can work. 

If you would like more information about SAME, please visit their website at www.soallmayeat.org.

     

Comments

[tennen-parman]

Hi, I am Tennen-Perman,E-mail from Japan.
I visited your site sometimes so far.
You have a cool site.
I linked your site in my blog.
I administer a blog talking about cooking.
Please link to my site in your ones if you like it.

http://impact-cook.blogspot.com/

thank you!

[celebrities]

So nice a blog...thanks for the info