New restaurant serves good meals – and hope
serves breakfast, lunch and dinner every day.
It has a full-service menu, a Ceremony Coffee bar and a Grab ’n’ Go. All of the restaurant’s profits go back to the Light House.
Light House Bistro hopes to train its 45 employees with basic skills so they can climb the ranks in the restaurant industry, said Kinney, who’s the former executive director of the shelter.
“We’re like the beginning of a conveyer belt,” she said. “The bistro is reclaiming lives.”
The planning began three years ago, after Light House moved off West Street to its current home at10 Hudson St. Using the old space as a restaurant seemed like the “natural progression” to grow the organization’s culinary program, Kinney said.
The Light House has found that the hospitality and culinary industry provides the best second chances to its residents.
A“reclaimed” concept is manifested in the design. Almost all of the components of the bistro — from chairs to tables and decorations — have been repurposed.
The chairs were originally chairs that Naval Academy plebes sat on in the 1950s, and the wood decorations are from the second floor of the Light House’s old location.
Local businesses donated equipment and services to the bistro, and the shelter received several grants to help with the construction.
All of the restaurant’s dishes are made from scratch and require basic techniques that the chefs can take to their next jobs, like how to poach ingredients or make a vinaigrette, said executive chef Beth Rocca.
She added that many of the employees have contributed ideas to the menu and helped tweak ingredients in recipes.
“Everyone feels like they have a piece of it,” she said. Among the offerings are avocado toast; an arugula salad with roasted beets, goat cheese and pecans; crab cake with fried green tomatoes; cauliflower “mac” and cheese; and pappardelle with shrimp, shallots and bacon. The restaurant’s dinner entrees range from $12 to $25.
Alexandra Tingler works as a server at the bistro and described the first-week customers as “angels.” She previously worked at a restaurant but said working at the bistro “isn’t about the money, but the experience.”
Damon Blake, who buses tables, said the bistro’s training has taught him the importance of attention to detail.
Afew weeks ago, the restaurant had an intense training day, which he described as “bistro boot camp.” The employees were given “worst-case scenario” situations and shown how to deal with them.
Now he feels like he and the other employees can tackle almost anything.
“They won’t be disappointed in the food or the service,” he said of prospective customers. “Or the people.” mnewman@capgaznews.com
It has a full-service menu, a Ceremony Coffee bar and a Grab ’n’ Go. All of the restaurant’s profits go back to the Light House.
Light House Bistro hopes to train its 45 employees with basic skills so they can climb the ranks in the restaurant industry, said Kinney, who’s the former executive director of the shelter.
“We’re like the beginning of a conveyer belt,” she said. “The bistro is reclaiming lives.”
The planning began three years ago, after Light House moved off West Street to its current home at10 Hudson St. Using the old space as a restaurant seemed like the “natural progression” to grow the organization’s culinary program, Kinney said.
The Light House has found that the hospitality and culinary industry provides the best second chances to its residents.
A“reclaimed” concept is manifested in the design. Almost all of the components of the bistro — from chairs to tables and decorations — have been repurposed.
The chairs were originally chairs that Naval Academy plebes sat on in the 1950s, and the wood decorations are from the second floor of the Light House’s old location.
Local businesses donated equipment and services to the bistro, and the shelter received several grants to help with the construction.
All of the restaurant’s dishes are made from scratch and require basic techniques that the chefs can take to their next jobs, like how to poach ingredients or make a vinaigrette, said executive chef Beth Rocca.
She added that many of the employees have contributed ideas to the menu and helped tweak ingredients in recipes.
“Everyone feels like they have a piece of it,” she said. Among the offerings are avocado toast; an arugula salad with roasted beets, goat cheese and pecans; crab cake with fried green tomatoes; cauliflower “mac” and cheese; and pappardelle with shrimp, shallots and bacon. The restaurant’s dinner entrees range from $12 to $25.
Alexandra Tingler works as a server at the bistro and described the first-week customers as “angels.” She previously worked at a restaurant but said working at the bistro “isn’t about the money, but the experience.”
Damon Blake, who buses tables, said the bistro’s training has taught him the importance of attention to detail.
Afew weeks ago, the restaurant had an intense training day, which he described as “bistro boot camp.” The employees were given “worst-case scenario” situations and shown how to deal with them.
Now he feels like he and the other employees can tackle almost anything.
“They won’t be disappointed in the food or the service,” he said of prospective customers. “Or the people.” mnewman@capgaznews.com
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