HOTEL INC invites you to join them for an elegant Farm to Table dinner at Tayvin Gardens featuring some of Kentucky’s finest foods, drinks, and music on Saturday, September 9 at 6 pm. Chef Brittany Vincent, owner of The Linen Apron, is creating a four-course meal. Wine is provided by Traveler’s Rest Cellar, and music will be by vocalist Martha Christian and pianist Curtis Willis.
Tickets go on sale August 8 online for $150 per person or $1,200 for a table of eight ($75/$600 is tax deductible). For individual tickets, go to www.hotelincbg.com/farmtotable; to purchase a table email Executive Director Rhondell Miller, director@hotelincbg.com
Vincent returns for her second year as the event chef. “I really look forward to this dinner because it gives me a platform as a chef to really showcase my talent of putting together ingredients. That’s every chef’s dream: putting together ingredients that are new and different to the palate. It’s exciting!” Vincent hinted that the menu theme combines the sweet and the savory. She is especially looking forward to the dessert. “It’s bold, and I think people are going to like it!”
This year’s Farm to Table meal also includes a cocktail hour, and Vincent says hors d’oeuvres provide a great opportunity for a chef to get creative. Last year’s dinner featured a hickory syrup, which Vincent says added a smoked-wood flavor to the dish, almost like bourbon. “It was very exciting to have a unique product like that, and it is also local!”
HOTEL INC chose a Farm to Table dinner as its exclusive annual event because it highlights local farm and KY Proud products, much like its social enterprise, the Delafield Co-Op Market. HOTEL INC has a demonstrated commitment to making whole-food nutrition more accessible to people in Bowling Green, particularly those who are food insecure. HOTEL INC was the first Bowling Green nonprofit to support local farmers and increase nutrition by adding fresh produce to its food pantry over a decade ago.
In 2016, HOTEL INC began evaluating its programs and discovered that the food pantry was not alleviating the Delafield neighborhood’s food insecurity. The neighbors said they most wanted a grocery establishment where they could purchase nutritious food. In response, the organization closed its pantry and opened the Delafield Co-Op Market to give neighbors access to fresh foods at affordable prices.
Designed to build social connection while also alleviating a food desert, the Co-Op Market offers three price points: West End neighbors pay no membership fee and receive a 30% discount; people living outside the West End pay a $60 lifetime membership fee and retail price. Non-members pay a 10% tip. Having customers at these various payment levels builds a sustainable food economy. A partnership with the American Red Cross efforts to build resilient communities made possible a van for an online ordering service, which will launch soon.
HOTEL INC works in the areas of food security (through the Delafield Co-Op Market and partnerships with First Christian Church and MEALS, Inc.), housing and holistic goals (through its educational and navigation offerings), and neighborhood flourishing (as the home base for the Delafield Neighborhood Group). Offered five times a year, the Foundations program matches individuals to HOTEL INC Navigators, who meet one-on-one throughout the eight-week cohort class to assess gifts, barriers, and goals related to nutrition, health, housing, transportation, and education. Last year 68 people graduated from Foundations. This year 70 people have gone through the program, with 53 individuals being housed through our work together. HOTEL INC staff utilize this model, called Holistic Partnership, in their work in the Co-Op and in the neighborhood, as well.
-submitted by HOTEL INC
