Recipe for relief
Old Pasadena Restaurant Week lets owners and diners help the homeless
By Carl Kozlowski 05/28/2009
In hard economic times the poor are usually the first to feel the pain, and our recent recession is no different in that respect, with Pasadena’s Union Station homeless shelter experiencing declines in contributions and increases in desperate people seeking a safe place to stay and eat.
For those reasons — and as a way to allow area diners to contribute to solving a growing problem while having a good time at discount prices — this week’s innovative Old Pasadena Restaurant Week should be a great boost to Union Station’s fortunes.
As part of the festivities, more than 25 of the district’s restaurants are offering lunch and dinner specials all week, then donating 10 percent of the week’s profits to the homeless shelter on South Raymond Avenue.
“This is the first time it’s been done here, but it should have happened a long time ago,” said Jack Huang, owner of the Italian restaurant Villa SORRISO, located at Colorado Boulevard and Pasadena Avenue and the Spanish tapas restaurant and night club Bar Celona, a few blocks away at 46 E. Colorado Blvd.
“We’re happy to be doing it because I always thought that Old Pasadena should have restaurant week to entice customers,” said Huang. “We’re offering some really good deals with fixed-price lunches and dinners. It’s always a nice component to give to a charity that feeds the poor. Pasadena has more restaurants than just about anywhere in LA and this is just a perfect mix coming together.”
Among those participating are popular jazz and dinner club redwhite+bluezz, Italian-Latin American fusion masters Malagueta and the new sensation La Grande Orange, located next to the Del Mar Gold Line station, less than a mile up Raymond Avenue from Union Station.
Added to the mix are wines from Heritage Wine Co. and Vertical Wine Bar, Japanese cuisine from Sushi Roku, al fresco dining under the stars at Twin Palms, hearty Italian fare at Mi Piace and The Kitchen and old-fashioned pub food at Barney’s LTD and Brix 42.
Meal deals range from $15 to $25 for lunches and $25 to $35 for dinners. The charitable effort follows in the footsteps of similar projects in cities across the country, including Los Angeles’ successful DineLA, in which 120 downtown restaurants raised money for the homeless.
Lauren Arant, assistant director of development for Union Station, said the charity typically takes in $4.2 million in donations in a year’s time. This year, the program has had to cut back $150,000, so the fundraiser is coming at just the right time.
“We made the cuts without cutting our staff or programs. We’ve been lucky because we’re not as down in donations as others in the area,” says Arant. “We had a very rough fall, but a record December for donations. Our 35th anniversary fundraiser May 9 raised a lot, but every bed is full here. Anything like Restaurant Week which helps raise money and community awareness is much appreciated.”
“We’ve been looking for a couple of years for an opportunity to partner with Union Station,” said Steve Mulheim, president and CEO of the Old Pasadena Management District, a sponsor of the event. Mulheim said the organization doesn’t know how much they will raise, since this is the first time anyone in the area has tried this type of event.
But, he said, “[Union Station] speaks directly to an issue that we deal with every day as a downtown management organization,” Mulheim said of the district’s growing homeless populations.
“On the other hand,” he said, “as diners working in the management office, we’re located right in the district and eat out four or five times a week and we’re excited about the menus. We’re really looking forward to putting on a few pounds.”
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT