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Par-tay!
May 15, 2007

OK, we’re about three weeks out, so it’s time to finish the planning for the pre-opening par-tay. Very early on, I decided that I wanted to have a pre-opening party for Terroir—part thank-you for everyone involved, part fund-raiser for a local not-for-profit/hug-a-farmer charity and part “come see what I’ve done!” An open house on steroids, with food and alcohol.

For the fund-raiser part, we’ve hooked up with MercyCorps Northwest (an organization that assists low-income individuals build their economic self-sufficiency) on the Refugee New Agriculture Project (RNAP). RNAP is a program designed to help refugees and immigrants initiate and develop small-scale, farm-based enterprises in the Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, Wash., metropolitan areas by providing the tools, skills and connections necessary for becomng entrepreneurial farmers in the regional food economy.

MercyCorps’ mission meshes with Terroir’s understanding of the need to eat and drink locally and our commitment to a combination of sustainable dining, sustainable community and a sustainable lifestyle.

That being said, I’ve been voracious in my pursuit of food, alcohol and service donations. We’ve lined up a good number of donations from our purveyor base—everything from products of local wineries, ranchers, farms and breweries to artisan bread and volunteers. As I’ve said repeatedly to my culinary students and anyone else who will listen, you don’t get anything without opening your mouth and asking.

So if you happen to be in the Portland area on June 1, bring $10 to benefit MercyCorps and come on by.

And the journey continues.

Cheers!

Stu

Posted by Stu Stein on May 15, 2007 | Comments (0)