We All Need Something

For the past few school years, the seventh and eighth graders at Abintra Montessori School have been filling our prep room each month. There the students clean and chop vegetables, assemble sandwiches and snacks, and put together beautiful fruit salads while listening to fun tunes with our staff. It’s a partnership that we have grown to love and one that we’re proud to hear is essential to the education of Abintra students.

“Volunteering is an integral part of our curriculum,” Abintra Middle School Guide Kim Blevins-Relleva tells us. “We’re trying to teach students to think critically about the world.”

She explains that there is a social justice component to Abintra’s educational philosophy, teaching the students that what they do in the community matters just as what they learn in the classroom matters in their daily lives. 

Abintra looks at volunteerism as so much more than an opportunity for students to feel better about themselves, but an opportunity to make a positive contribution. 

“We believe that access to food should be a basic human right, but it really is a privilege here in our community,” Kim tells us. She says that food insecurity is a reality that many Abintra students struggle to relate to so it’s that much more important for them to realize the impact of the work they do in The Nashville Food Project kitchen. Each time the students help with meal prep, they look at our meal partner map to learn more about where the food is going and the work it is supporting.

In our kitchen, the students get so much more than a fun volunteer activity. “They enjoy being entrusted to do jobs that typically adults would do - cooking and chopping. At The Nashville Food Project, they’re treated with respect by the staff, and they get to see the final product of what they’ve created,” Kim explains.

Kim tells us that the school tried many different organizations before settling on The Nashville Food Project as the regular volunteer partner for their middle school. They looked for an experience that taught their students that we all need each other in some way. “No matter who you are or what your life circumstance may be, we all need help.” 

Here at The Nashville Food Project, they found a similar philosophy that blurs the lines between giver and receiver, one in which we recognize our interdependence and our shared basic needs. 

Having the Abintra students in our kitchen has become something we look forward to as each school year nears. They’ve just rejoined us this month, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome them back.

While We're Here

On a typical Tuesday our South Hall kitchen is filled with a steady group of diverse and dedicated volunteers, and you can’t escape the good vibes. A 3-year veteran, Linda, tells me that it’s the music that Meals Coordinator Katie always plays that gets everyone grooving. Very easy to agree with after hearing the funk of Ray Charles come through the radio. I do feel our cherry sorting production was increased with the help of the background music, not to mention it led to the first common ground and opening to discuss the focus of this blog: friendship.

Although Linda suggests that the music was meant to appease some of the older volunteers (Psshh, she was in tow with her teenage grandson that day, back for his second visit.), it really is just another tool in nurturing community and friendship. With so much food to prep, it would be easy to get too involved with the work and miss the opportunity to build relationships, but that never seems to be the case around here.

I asked my delightful cherry sorting partner, Meera (very cool lady), why she keeps coming back, and she told me that, for her, she just wants to help and volunteer her time, simple as that. She went on to say that “while we are here, is when you see something special.”

Hearing the story of how she began meeting and building friendships with other volunteers, you can see that there is much more going on here than just sorting cherries. Meera is apparently an amazing cook and master of spice! As we are having this conversation, a dedicated volunteer cook Mary comes by to try out a few of the Rainer cherries on the table.

I soon find out that Meera and Mary have been volunteering together for nearly five years! These ladies, along with Linda and their friends Marilyn and Cheri, all met in the TNFP kitchen, and through their service to the organization, they’ve built lasting friendships that follow them outside our kitchens. It is amazing to see the friendships that have been cultivated over these cutting boards and mixing bowls.

These ladies and their friendship really shows the mission of The Nashville Food Project in action, and shows how we are fulfilling our mission to cultivate community. Each time I volunteer with TNFP, I am amazed at how much of the real work of the organization happens just by being in the space surrounded by these amazing volunteers.

If you want to help us cultivate community, just show up, open-up, give a hand, and listen to the music. Why we are here is great, but what happens while we are here is the magic.

How YOU Nourished Our City in 2016

The Nashville Food Project has always been an organization powered by the work of so many incredible community volunteers. In 2016 YOU helped us do more than ever before! Check out this Top Ten list of our 2016 volunteer program accomplishments:

10. We piloted an online volunteer sign-in system at our South Hall kitchen. As we continue to refine the program, we’ve loved the positive attitudes and helpful feedback we’ve received from volunteers. Our goal is to make volunteering an easy and fun experience from start to finish.

9. We welcomed a new Volunteer Coordinator, Mariah Ragland! Mariah joined the team to coordinate all volunteer activities and promote The Nashville Food Project to new groups of volunteers. It’s been wonderful to see volunteers embrace Mariah and work with her to continue improving The Nashville Food Project’s volunteer experience.

8. In addition to opening our second kitchen in partnership with St. Luke’s Community House in March, we added 10 new weekly volunteer opportunities to support the production of those meals. With your help we’ve been able to serve 1,330 meals a week to a new community!

7. We welcomed many new community and corporate partners as volunteers. New partners like Clyde’s On Church and Taco Mamacita have become regular volunteers. Existing partners like Jackson National Life Insurance have increased their volunteer efforts, helping us to continue to grow our work.

6. As our urban agriculture program expanded, so did volunteer opportunities in our new gardens! In 2016, we added ongoing volunteer activities in the McGruder Community Garden, Blackman Road Garden and Haywood Lane Garden. 

5. On December 30 and 31st, volunteers helped us collect food and monetary donations at back-to-back Widespread Panic shows at Bridgestone arena. During these two nights, we collected almost $5,000 and 200 pounds of food to support our programs!

4. We implemented a new way to highlight our incredibly dedicated volunteers with a Volunteer of the Month recognition. Each month, our staff submits names of volunteers who have gone above and beyond typical volunteer activities. One outstanding volunteer is selected to be featured in our kitchens the following month. We love having another way to thank and recognize the many people who make our work possible.

3. While we’re so grateful for our dedicated, regular volunteers, we were excited to welcome many new faces in 2016! Organization-wide, each month an average of 370 unique volunteers served in our kitchens, in our gardens and on our food trucks.

2. The year kicked off in a big way when we were invited to recover food from a meat conference hosted at Gaylord Opryland Hotel. A group of 15 volunteers joined TNFP staff for a crazy night of sorting, packing, and storing more than 11,000 pounds of meat. This supplied our TNFP meals with meat from February through October, feeding more than 70,000 in our community!

1. We truly are blown away by the support of our community as we worked to nourish our city in 2016. Looking back on the year, we’re thrilled to say that 7,047 volunteers gave a total of 17,967 hours of volunteer service to The Nashville Food Project! The US Bureau of Labor Statistics values an hour of volunteer time at $23.56, meaning that TNFP volunteers gave a value of $423,303 of time to our community. Thank you!

Guest Chef Series: Hal Holden-Bache and Jaime Miller of Lockeland Table

Chef Hal Holden-Bache of Lockeland Table has been cooking with love in his heart since at least age 8. That’s when he began giving his “hard-working mother some time off,” he says. “I enjoyed cooking more than I did my homework. She allowed me to do that.”

He also realized he liked to cook because he liked to eat. “At some point in time you gotta learn to feed yourself,” he says.

The love--and independence--that comes along with learning to cook was a theme important to both Holden-Bache and Lockeland'sPastry Chef Jaime Miller. The two chefs visited The Nashville Food Project this year as volunteers.

Jaime, a chef-participant in TNFP's first RISE event last December, took an interest in hospitality as a way to find freedom in life. She wanted to be on her own at age 15. So, she graduated high school early and found work in restaurants as soon as she could. But even as she sought independence, the experiences helped her appreciate family. “It made me realize how talented my mom was,” she says.

At The Nashville Food Project, Miller and Holden-Bache’s experience and talent showed as they floated effortlessly around the kitchen to prepare a gourmet meal for 75 men and women who reside at the John Glenn Residential Center in North Nashville.

The ingredients for their meal had been gleaned or donated from at least six different sources. Miller worked on a sheet pan of cubed sweet potatoes from Delvin Farms laced with kale that had been donated from a local catered event. She added apple gleaned from Whole Foods Market along with raisins and garlic before drizzling it with honey and slipping it into the oven.

Meanwhile, Holden-Bache prepped pork loin and pancetta donated earlier this year after a meat conference at Gaylord Opryland Hotel. He flavored the pork with onion, mushroom and sherry from TNFP cupboards.

The community effort that is cooking in the TNFP kitchens was a perfect match for these talented chefs.

Community, after all, is a word that’s important to both Holden-Bache and Miller. They begin dinner service at the restaurant each night with Community Hour, a play on Happy Hour that offers a portion of proceeds from specially priced drinks and small plates to local causes.

Holden-Bache preferred “community table” over “café or restaurant” when naming his place. Because in thinking about feeding Nashville, he wanted to say: “We’re here for you.” 

And he also says he felt drawn to the word community while reading TNFP’s mission statement: Bringing people together to grow, cook and share nourishing food, with the goals of cultivating community and alleviating hunger in our city.

“Food should be something we’re all able to do,” he says both in terms of access and preparation. He’s careful not to take it for granted by working to reduce food waste at the restaurant, to give back when he can and to reflect on his good fortune when he enjoys a meal.

“This is so good,” he recalled saying between bites to a friend recently, “We’re lucky, man.” 

Chef Holden-Bache looks through gleaned food from Whole Foods with Meals Director Anne Sale. 

The chef checks out TNFP's kitchen garden at Woodmont. 

Herbs pulled from TNFP's kitchen garden will go into the dish. 

Chefs Holden-Bache and Miller pause to taste during the cooking process.

Celebrating Interdependence on Independence Day

It’s not every day that you get a request from a volunteer group for ideas for “something big” to partner on, but that’s just what happened with local restaurant group Strategic Hospitality. 

After volunteering a few times in our kitchen and gardens, they wanted to work with The Nashville Food Project to involve more of their staff in our work, and to make a splash in the community. Because Strategic Hospitality already has a community relationship with the veteran-services organization Operation Stand Down and because many Strategic Hospitality employees are veterans themselves, it was clear that an event in which their employees could interact with the veterans would be a great opportunity to build relationships over a community meal, especially this time of year as we were approaching the July 4th holiday. 

Last Wednesday, our three organizations teamed up to host a special nearly-July 4th celebration with the Operation Stand Down veterans and the employees at Strategic Hospitality. The Nashville Food Project provided the meal, Operation Stand Down provided the space, and Strategic Hospitality provided fun games and activities!

The day started when Chef Jason Brumm, Strategic Hospitality’s Culinary Director, and his team arrived at our Woodmont kitchen and began preparing a hearty meal of chicken stir-fry loaded with vegetables over rice with Strategic Hospitality’s incredible cauliflower salad and a cookie donated from Christie Cookie Co. We led the chefs through the garden out back, where they snipped tons of fresh herbs to liven up the meal, and then they were off! 

At around 11:00AM, volunteers from American Legion Post 5 arrived to load up the food truck and share the meal. These veterans volunteer regularly on our trucks through FiftyForward’s Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), and it just so happened that their week fell during this great event to celebrate our vets.

By 11:30 the RSVP volunteers were ready to share this tasty meal with the veterans at Operation Stand Down, the surrounding community and the Strategic Hospitality employees. Looking through the crowd, it was clear that relationships were forming over this meal. All in all, this was a great event! Thanks to everyone who played a part.

Guest Chef Series: Hattie B's Hot Chicken

When we invite professionals to our kitchens each month for the Guest Chef Series, it often feels like a family affair with husband and wife teams or kitchen crews generously taking a break from their regular days to prepare a meal in our space. But it has never felt quite like the family reunion as when the clan of Hattie B's Hot Chicken pitched in to help. 

Executive Chef John Lasater and his wife Brittany Bishop Lasater arrived first to get started. The TNFP meals team had left them notes and a recipe to work from based on produce that had been gathered from the garden that week and donations gleaned from other farmers or partners like Whole Foods Market. 

They pulled ingredients from the walk-in cooler labeled for the day and destination... 

...and John headed for the greenhouse to clip fresh herbs.

Back in the kitchen, Brittany began mixing the cornbread while John put the beans on to soak with aromatics alongside pans of sizzling sausage donated from KLD Farm. Even with their busy schedules, the couple keeps a garden of their own and has been renovating their East Nashville home kitchen. "We do enjoy cooking at home from time to time," Brittany says.  

Both John and Brittany grew up in Middle Tennessee and attended Western Kentucky University. Then Brittany left for art school and John left for culinary school and work in New York City. They didn't officially meet until both moved back to Nashville and joined a kickball league. 

"I've always enjoyed cooking," John says of his path in the business. "My mom started us cooking and would give me my budget for three course meals -- an appetizer, entree and dessert." 

His aunt and grandmother also ran a catering company called An Affair to Remember cooking for the likes of Alan Jackson and George Strait. "Whenever family got together, the meal consisted of four meals, like 10 sides...food was always the focal point." 

John says he loved working in New York City, too, at restaurants like Gramercy Tavern. But like others in the city, he had trouble affording the Big Apple on a chef's starting salary. He moved to Nashville and took a job at The Hermitage Hotel's Capitol Grille with Executive Chef Tyler Brown as well as friends Chris Carter and James Peisker, who went on to open Porter Road Butcher. 

But of the career twists and turns, perhaps his biggest test came when cooking for Brittany's family. Her father, Nick Sr., has been in the restaurant business for 30 years.

"He made pimento cheese au gratin potatoes," Brittany says of a birthday dinner John cooked for her dad. "They were gone in lightening speed -- like, it evaporated." 

Right on cue, Nick Sr. arrived at TNFP to help finish the meal. His son, business partner and Brittany's brother, Nick Jr., arrived too.

From left: John Lasater, Brittany Bishop Lasater, Nick Bishop Jr., and Nick Bishop Sr.

Nick Sr. grew up in the Morrison's Cafeteria family of restaurants. His father started in the business as a dishwasher in Savannah in the 1940s and retired as President and CEO of Morrison's. The group also bought Ruby Tuesday and grew the chain to 900 stores before selling it. Then, after Nick Sr. "retired" and opened Bishop's Meat and Three in Cool Springs, both Nicks began experimenting with hot chicken. The dish took off as a favorite, and they decided to open Hattie B's Hot Chicken with John stepping in as a consultant just for three to six months initially. Now about four years later, John still works with the company, and his pimento cheese gratin from that fateful family dinner made its way to the menu as pimento mac and cheese along with many other popular dishes. 

Back in the TNFP kitchen, Nick Sr., with his natural restaurant instincts, checked the Delvin Farms sweet potatoes roasting in the TNFP ovens before they headed for John Glenn residential center, and John finished the main course by layering white beans with sausage and TNFP-grown kale. 

"I like the idea of using what you have on hand," John said.

"I want to do it again," Brittany added. 

And maybe they'll bring even more family next time? 

"I don't think you have a kitchen big enough," John teased, "for what we could bring." 

Guest Chef Series: Owen Clark of Rolf and Daughters

Chef Owen Clark of Rolf and Daughters working in The Nashville Food Project kitchens. Photo by Danielle Atkins. 

Owen Clark came to Rolf and Daughters as Chef de Cuisine a year and a half ago after a cross-country road trip led him through Music City.  The Colorado native had been working in New York City for the past several years and wanted a change.

These days, he's certainly found it. He can go two-stepping when he wants. He bought a kayak. He even started tooling leather, a hobby that’s more related to his profession than might initially appear.

“Growing up with horses on a horse ranch and being around that as a functional art form is a lot of what speaks to me about cooking,” he says.  “It has to be functional. But it also has to be exciting and delicious and appealing. And I think leather is the same thing. You’re working with your hands, so you get to zone-out and focus and make something that’s really beautiful. But if it doesn’t fit, it’s pretty useless.”

Attention to function and flavor might be part of why he rocked it as part of our Guest Chef Series at TNFP. When he visited with his girlfriend and photographer Danielle Atkins to make a meal during one of the volunteer cook shifts, he transformed donated, garden-grown and gleaned ingredients into a dish of chicken, sweet potatoes, apples and curry. He spotted the greenhouse out back and clipped parsley and leaves from a lime tree. “That’s one of things that inspired me to change up what I thought I was going to make when I looked at the ingredients available,” he said.

Owen in TNFP's greenhouse. Photo by Danielle Atkins.

With the leaves, he made a lime, garlic, balsamic and soy vinaigrette for charred broccoli.

For wilted curly kale salad he added the chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley with the stalks folded in, too, that were large enough to be “like their own vegetable.”

Using all parts of the parsley from the garden helps demonstrate Owen's commitment to not wasting food.

“Every day I’m trying to find ways to use everything,” he says. “From a business standpoint it’s like, ‘Okay, that’s money in the garbage,’ and that’s one way to look at it. But also it’s heartbreaking to see something go in the trash. The more you know about farming and what you can do with certain things, the more you see it as a wasted opportunity and wasted work. So many hours and heart and hard-ass work went into taking this from dirt to product to what could be food. Along the way if you haven’t done your best to make it something better then you’re really doing a disservice.”

Also from a professional standpoint, Owen said he has spent much of his time hidden in a kitchen and cooking for a more exclusive clientele at places like wd-50, A Voce and Blue Hill in New York as well as Rolf and Daughters.  Stepping out to cook at The Nashville Food Project gave him an opportunity to use his skills and talents for a different audience of about 70 low-income residents at John Glenn retirement home.

“It gets to a point where you want to make food for the people who need it in a way that’s still delicious and good for you,” he says. “And it’s nourishing for your soul to do that as well.  That’s what I’ve been looking to do in some facet."

“That’s one of the reasons The Nashville Food Project appealed to me the most. I want to do that and feel good about what I’m making for the people who need it.”

Owen handing off his meal to the truck delivery team. Photo by Danielle Atkins. 

Guest Chef Series: Kayla and Derek May

Pastry Chefs Derek and Kayla May began their courtship in the kitchen at The Hermitage Hotel when their shifts overlapped by one hour.

Kayla arrived at 5 a.m. to make breads and banquet sweets, and Derek arrived later to make plated desserts. Everyone on the crew had individual plastic bins to keep their tools, but Derek noticed that Kayla’s was broken. So when she came in one morning, she found the tools missing in her bin and a treasure map instead sending her to find the new one Derek had purchased for her.

“I was pretty smitten after that,” she said.

Still, she resisted a romantic relationship knowing that she would soon head to New York City to work. The two would meet before dawn at Café Coco, the 24-hour coffee shop, after he ended his shift and she headed into hers. When she left the hotel job, Derek ended up going to New York with her where they shared a room in an apartment with two other roommates. 

“If you opened the dresser you had to climb over the bed," Kayla said of their tiny space. But she added that the experience in New York proved invaluable.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, the chefs -- both owners of Blushing Berry Chocolates and Kayla the pastry chef at Josephine -- made the perfect pair to feature in our Guest Chef Series. We were delighted to get to know them at our first RISE event in December, and they agreed to return to the kitchen for a volunteer shift. 

“They don’t usually let me make meatloaf at Josephine,” Kayla said as they both joked about cooking on the savory side rather than the sweet. “If you want me to cook stuff on the hot line, I need a lot of instruction.”

But of course they handled the meal for 75 people at John Glenn retirement home with ease. Kayla cracked eggs, one in each hand, for a mixture of donated venison from Hunters for the Hungry and blend of spices as Derek chopped bacon for a pot of green beans. Sweet potatoes softened in a pot of boiling water and would soon be whipped with molasses. “I have to add a little sugar,” she said. 

Kayla grew up in Alabama and took an interest in pastry while on a trip to Paris. When her sister and traveling companion caught a case of the flu, Kayla spent her days wandering into pastry shops marveling at the beauty and the detail behind the glass cases. Despite a family in medicine (her mother is a doctor and her sister will soon begin her residency), she promptly changed course from a scholarship to study pre-med at Auburn University to the French Culinary Institute in New York.

“She was super-supportive,” Kayla said of her mother. “I really haven’t thought about much else (but pastry) since.” 

Derek grew up in Indiana and attended Connecticut Culinary Institute and worked in Chicago before coming to Nashville. Both chefs are happy to be back in Music City after their time in New York. They’re preparing for a busy Valentine's season and scouting new locations for their Blushing Berry business. And after marrying in 2014, they’ve been putting down roots here, which thankfully means giving back by helping at The Nashville Food Project, too.

"It's always nice," Kayla said, "to help out with something you do as your career in the community."  

Pro Tips from Kayla and Derek:

- Pastries and breads freeze nicely for serving later, which helps cut down on food waste.

- Be prepared. “Panicking never helps,” Derek says. They both like to stay ahead of the game throughout the week. “If you’re not ahead, you’re probably behind,” Kayla says.

- It’s okay if every dish at home doesn't turn out perfectly. Experimentation leads to improvement. “It doesn’t always have to taste good,” Derek said. “Next time you’ll know how to do it better.”

- Learn to think on your feet and improvise in the kitchen. It’s another way to keep from wasting food.

- Knowing the purpose of ingredients helps reduce waste and makes a better cook. Knowing that eggs stabilize and add volume, for example, makes it easier to substitute with what’s on hand.

- And on keeping a trim figure as a pastry chef? “Work in a kitchen,” Kayla says, where employees stay busy. “I think that’s why I love vegetables so much. It’s what our body needs and wants at the end of a long day.”

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On the Menu:

Kayla and Derek prepared meatloaf with mashed sweet potatoes and green beans flavored with pork. To replicate their meal, try these recipes.

Good Eats Meatloaf

Molasses Whipped Sweet Potatoes

Green Beans with Bacon

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Kayla and Derek will be holding a sweetheart special during Valentine's week at Blushing Berry Chocolates. Any gentleman who visits the shop to buy a 12-piece or 24-piece chocolate box for a special someone will get two free Bourbon truffles for the purchase.

Valentine's truffle flavors available now and through the holiday include the following: 

Milk Chocolate

Dark Chocolate

Salted Caramel

Vanilla Bean

Strawberry

Raspberry

Rose

Passion Fruit

Champagne

Hazelnut

Amaretto

Bailey's Irish Cream

For more information, click here or call 615.852.8128. 

For reservations at Josephine, visit here or call 615.292.7766. 

Guest Chef Series: Chef Dale Levitski and Brenda Reed of Sinema with Debbi Fields of Mrs. Fields

Brenda Reed (left) with Debbi Fields and Dale Levitski.

The cook team had under two hours to finish dinner for 75 people, but Chef Dale Levitski of Sinema calmly mixed meatloaf like a pro. 

He combined donated ground beef, pork and venison. Then he added seasoning, eggs, parsley from the garden and oatmeal, which had been donated after a warehouse ordering mistake.

“Meatloaf is something you don’t really measure, you just make it,” he said. ““My mom always did oatmeal in meatloaf. I grew up eating it. It was the 70's. I’ve always loved my mom’s meatloaf."

Brenda Reed, one of the Sinema owners and a regular volunteer at The Nashville Food Project, joined Chef Dale to cook as well as Brenda’s friend Debbi Fields, the woman behind the famous Mrs. Field’s cookies. 

While Dale worked on the main course, Brenda and Debbi looked after the sizzling bacon for a batch of kale cooked with brown sugar, vinegar and a touch of cayenne.

“Is that bacon done?” Dale asked.

“Yes, Chef,” Brenda replied.

But even if it hadn't been, easy-going Dale said he doesn’t get too worked up under pressure. 

“I think if you’re going to be a leader in the kitchen, and you’re losing your temper, you’re not leader." He jokes with his cooks that he can yell only once a year.

Chef Dale Levitski moved to Nashville two years ago in March from Chicago. He brought celebrity status with him from his time on Top Chef, but his experience goes much deeper. 

After finishing the meatloaf, he moved on to a dressing for lettuce from the garden that Meals Manager Anne Sale had cleaned and prepped. 

“Salad dressing is one of the first things I learned to make,” he said, whirling together a mixture of extra virgin olive oil, vinegars, dry mustard, sugar and salt. 

Dale skipped culinary school and worked his way up in the business instead. In addition to Sinema, he's planning on opening a fast-casual restaurant called The Hook in 2016. 

As he whisked the dressing, Debbi quizzed him for tips.

“I usually use grape seed oil because it’s super-light and olive oil tastes more heavy,” he said. But of course he rolls with the nature of using what's on hand at TNFP. “We’ll make it work,” he says.

“That’s the right answer,” Anne says.

Just before 11 a.m., the prep room began to buzz with activity as volunteers showed up to take the food to John Glenn retirement home.

Volunteer Marilyn Lane poked her head into the kitchen to pass along praise. She delivers to John Glenn weekly. “They love this food and would have a hard time without it,” she said.

Intern Noelle Brown also stopped in to meet Debbi.

“I didn’t have an Easy-Bake Oven growing up," she said. "I had a Mrs. Fields Oven."

The chefs gave their dishes a final taste and volunteers plated the food to show how it would be served – meatloaf, green salad, kale and carrots with Mrs. Fields cookies for dessert.

“It was a lot easier than I thought it would be,” Dale said. “I haven’t made meatloaf in years.” 

Guest Chef Series: Lauren Moskovitz and Alex Grainger

Lauren Moskovitz of Miel and Alex Grainger of Silo work in kitchens across town from one another. Lauren specializes in baking as owner of her side business Little Mosko’s Bake Shop while Alex works more on the savory side as an executive chef. Alex moves swiftly and firmly while Lauren’s style feels a little more laid back. But despite their differences -- and maybe because of them -- they fit together in the kitchen like a cup of coffee and slice of pie.

“He usually starts something, and I finish it,” Lauren said. But Alex teased that it works another way: “She bosses me out of the kitchen.”

He paused to kiss her on the head as she whirled together herbs, vinegar, onion, garlic and mustards for a salad dressing. Though made from simple ingredients, the dressing also has special meaning to the couple. They created it together as part of their first meal cooking for Lauren’s family.

“We spent five hours making dinner for us four,” Alex said. “I love cooking for them. I love cooking for anyone.”

As guest chefs at The Nashville Food Project, the meal they would prepare had been chosen for them based on the produce and donations available for the week. But coincidentally, it closely matched one they had cooked together for the first time for family. A tomato sauce with chicken sausage over pasta followed the salad with a fruit crisp for dessert. “This is basically what we were doing,” Alex said. “It’s my favorite thing to cook.”

Of course the chefs would have much less time and fewer ingredients at the TNFP session -- two hours to cook dinner for 75. But these pros took no less care or pride in their work.

“We put a lot of love into our cooking,” he said.

Alex is originally from the Naples area of Florida, while Lauren grew up in Nashville. The daughter of Cindy and Scott Moskovitz, she spent her youth at the legendary Mosko’s and the Muncheonette formerly on Elliston Place.  

Lauren and Alex met at a bar in New York City. Alex had moved to Manhattan to work as a chef. They had no mutual friends at the time. “I had come back from traveling and was in New York for a visit,” Lauren said. “He was having an after-work beer before going home.”

After that first meeting, they didn't see each other for three months, but they talked every day long-distance until their first proper date.

Alex relocated to Nashville about four months ago and took the job at Silo. A month later, Lauren, who has been diagnosed with celiac disease, launched her Little Mosko’s Bake Shop, which specializes in high-quality, gluten-free treats.

“He’s my number one taste-tester,” she said.

They support each other in a hectic, hard-working industry and still take time to help others through their cooking. On the day they visited, Alex slipped away from Silo while Lauren had been up baking for events until 2 a.m. 

As they handed over their meal to the truck team, Marilyn Lane, one of the volunteers who delivers to John Glenn residential center each week, pulled the couple aside. She knows the cooks often work behind-the-scenes, and she wanted them to know how much the residents appreciate the meal.

“We get the hugs and thank yous,” she said.

Which prompted Lauren to boss Alex in the best possible way.

“Hug her,” she said, nudging him toward Marilyn. “Transfer the love.” 

Thank You, Volunteers!

A few of the many volunteers we celebrate posed for a photo at the Volunteer Celebration. 

At our annual Volunteer Celebration in October, we recognized some of the individuals who show up regularly to chop potatoes, weed the garden, cook and deliver food on our trucks. But as Executive Director Tallu Schuyler Quinn reminded us, the work is far from a singular effort. We’re all in this together as a connected team to help make the mission happen. 

At TNFP, results translate into people being fed through the thousands of meals served each month as well as the camaraderie and sharing that comes back to those who give.

“I want to give for sure,” says Marirae Mathis, a volunteer recognized for her dedication to the kitchen. “But I feel like I’m getting so much more out of it than what I’m giving.” 

Marirae Mathis accepting her award from Associate Director Malinda Hersh. 

The exchange of giving and receiving was a common theme among those recognizable faces that come to TNFP. Marirae started as a truck volunteer but knew as a trained chef, her strengths would lead her to the kitchen. She makes a meal every Friday with Joyce Jones.

Meanwhile, volunteer Doug Tommie, has kept the truck rolling. Having been a volunteer for eight years, he has seen TNFP evolve to serve higher quality, hot meals at less expense. He acknowledges that the line between those being served and serving remains blurred.

Doug holds up the parting gifts for all volunteers: Chipotle gift cards and herbal teas made by staff.  

“They get a meal that sustains them for a night. But I get something here,” he said patting his heart, “that lasts longer.”  

Guests mingled during lunch provided by TNFP corporate partner, Chipotle. 

Then during the awards ceremony that followed, several groups, too, were recognized such as Friends Life.  The nonprofit dedicated to serving the needs of adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities has been a regular participate at the Wedgewood Urban Garden. The group's energy charged the room with enthusiasm. 

“It was so exciting for the Friends to learn just how appreciated they are and remember how fortunate they are. It was also a good opportunity for us to show the Friends just how much effort goes into making sure people have the nourishment they need to make it through the day,” says Jennifer Rosenberg, program specialist for Friends Life.

Other groups recognized for their work included Media Star as well as board member Judy Wright's cook team for their loyal participation and creativity. Over the years, they've added popular dishes to TNFP repertoire such as Judy's Mother's Meatloaf and Chicken Pot Pie. 

Judy Wright accepts her team's award from Tallu Schuyler Quinn.

“I grew up in a house where we had 10 for dinner at a minimum,” Judy said.

But she still appreciates that those in her group continue to learn from their experiences at The Nashville Food Project while also enjoying the camaraderie and resourcefulness of the work

“I love thinking about the people who are going to eat the food,” she says. “And everybody coming to the table.” 

Here is a full list of volunteers recognized at this year's celebration.

Top Ten volunteers based on Sept 2014 through Sept 2015:

Volunteering at least 100 hours: Linda Bodfish, Jackie Jones, Marirae Mathias, Joyce Jones and Julie Blackwell

Volunteering at least 200 hours: Mary Dionne, Ann Fundis and Warren White

Volunteering at least 300 hours: Chester Higgins and Marilyn Lane

The 10 people listed above gave a combined total of 2,186 hours. When all volunteer hours in all programs were calculated for the first eight months of 2015, we have 4,401 volunteers generating 10,749 hours. 

Also recognized: 

Outstanding Cook Team - Judy Wright and Friends

Outstanding Community Partner - Woodmont Christian Church

Outstanding Garden Group - Friends Life

Outstanding Intern - Abbie Tourbe-Tolon

Behind-the-Scenes Volunteer - Karen Rolen

Individuals who have served with us 5 years or longer: 

Stacy Andrick
Margot Baeder
Barbara Ball
Rob Barrick
Albert Bart
Billy Bird
Lady Bird
George Burke
Brenda Ellis
Hope Hodnett
Berry Holt
Elizabeth James
Joyce Jones
Butch Lewis

Viki Matson
Sara Martin-Michels
Nealya Parish
Bill Peerman
Gordon Peerman
Lisa Peerman
Ann Pla
Toni Rodgers
Thom Schuyler
Michael Sheridan
Doug Tommie
Judy Wright

Guest Chef Series: Vivek Surti

Vivek Surti might not have a formal culinary education, but he’s no doubt a fixture on the Nashville food scene. He made a name for himself hosting inventive pop-up dinners through his VEA Supper Club, and he can always drop some helpful knowledge about the newest restaurants in town.  Beyond food, he’s often the nicest guy in the kitchen or dining room.

So when we asked if he would visit our kitchen as a guest chef, of course he showed up ready to work with his love of fresh ingredients and spice.

Vivek’s parents came to the United States from India, rooting Vivek’s cooking style in that lineage. “Indian techniques and flavors are the ones that I know and am comfortable with,” he says. “So obviously, I reach for spices when I cook.”

When presented with a pan of purple-streaked dragon beans from our garden at TNFP, he tossed them with onions and tomatoes to braise. He added a few handfuls of fresh basil and several shakes of fennel seed.

We also needed to stretch a sausage scramble dish to feed a few extra meal recipients, so with a quick "tap, tap" on the cutting board, he added vegetables for more nourishing flavor.

Vivek regularly collects fresh produce from his parents’ garden in Brentwood where they grow fresh tuvar beans, black-eyed peas, okra and tomatoes.

“I would say what's different about my cooking from traditional Indian cooking is I focus much more on lighter food,” he says. “A lot of Indian food is very rich, slow-cooked and hearty.”

While a traditional dish of chaat might be made with potatoes and chickpeas, Vivek goes for puffed grained, radishes, chiles and loads of fresh herbs. He often likes to have one cooked element of the meal paired with a raw, crunchy and acidic component. “It gives you the same experience of the dish,” he says, “but in a lighter, more refreshing way. As you're eating it, you feel good."  

At a recent pop-up brunch, for example, he prepared Indian-style fried chicken with a spicy and sweet tamarind paste and then piled on top a salad of crunchy radish, cucumber and fresh cilantro.

But even with his Indian influences, Vivek didn’t learn to cook at his mother’s elbow. He learned as an adult by watching Food TV.

“I came home from college for Christmas break,” he says. “Everybody in the family had been traveling all day, and I was on college time. I didn’t go to sleep until 3 a.m. I was just watching TV, scrolling through a bunch of channels, and Emeril Live was on.”

Vivek wanted to replicate Emeril’s tomato soup and grilled cheese with mascarpone, chives and cream cheese. He asked his mother the following morning if she could add it to their menu.

“My mom during Christmas, she’s very methodical. Thursday breakfast, Thursday lunch, Thursday snack, Thursday dinner…” he said. “So this was kind of messing up her schedule a little bit. She said ‘You can do that. Don’t make a mess in the kitchen.’”

Vivek and three of his cousins went to Kroger and spent the next several hours making the dish. “Now it’s one thing we make every Christmas,” he says.

As marketing director for the Nashville Wine Auction, Vivek has a soft spot for nonprofits. The organization raises approximately $1.2 million a year for cancer research, mostly through its signature event L’Ete du Vin. But at 30, Vivek also has been helping promote trips and events like Pairings that are more accessible to a younger crowd. The role also ties back to food, of course, as it has helped him broaden his palate during his two and half years with the organization.

He will continue with the pop-up dinners, too, offering his Indian-style fried chicken at Hattie B’s this weekend. (Details and full menu at here.)

At The Nashville Food Project kitchen, he finished his work before heading back to his full-time job with a dressing for lettuces from the garden. The room swelled with the aromas of fresh and earthy spice.

“What is that?” an employee asked, breezing through the kitchen.

A sausage scramble, side of dragon beans and salad, he said, "with a few Vivek touches."

Volunteer Corner with Rich Sanderson​

Volunteer Rich Sanderson with a friend at Green Street Church of Christ. 

Longtime volunteer Rich Sanderson provided an account of his experiences delivering meals to the Green Street Church of Christ. The church has a history of helping the poor. Since 2012, people experiencing homelessness have been allowed to camp on the property, and it recently became the site for the first micro home project for homeless in Nashville. This is one of the few remaining transitional spaces in the city for people who have not been able to access other shelter.

It’s the forth Saturday of the month and our Nashville Food Project Truck #2 is carrying a hot, healthy meal. Pulling up to the front of Green Street Sanctuary, we honk the horn several times, serving as the “dinner bell” and announcing we have arrived.

We have been coming to “the Sanctuary” as TNFP’s ambassadors for three or more years now. Faces have changed many times. But the tents, the big gray sea container with extra living supplies, the pile of wood in the corner, have pretty much stayed the same. An added privacy fence, the food and cook tent we donated as well as mulch by the tents have helped make the place a little bit more like home for those who stay here.

I recall so many familiar faces such as Becky, who left a couple years ago. She took a job cleaning out crawl spaces under houses, and it has helped her afford rent on a small apartment. She stops by now and then.

Kenny, full of energy and often wearing a Vietnam veteran hat, had just been released after 15 years in an Indiana prison when we met him. He came to Nashville to start over. Kenny wasn’t at the Sanctuary long. I hope he feels cleared of his guilt and shame and is making a new life for himself.

Denise’s family had lived in buses and cars, motel rooms, shelters her whole life. But she told me one time she wasn’t really homeless. She had a tent. She had a community family. This was the life she was used to. This lifestyle had been physically tough on her, though. I really worry about her health. Lately she has not been around. Others have said she disappeared a couple of months ago. I pray she has a bus or a tent or a shelter of some kind to live in.

Robert was at the original tent city along the Cumberland River when it was washed to oblivion during the big Nashville flood. He always entertained us with his impression of Donald Duck. It was perfect and hilarious. Over the months, Robert lost all kinds of weight. One Saturday I pulled him aside: “Are you alright, brother?” He said he had been to the clinic. They took X-rays, and it looked like he had lung cancer. A few months later, Robert was able to get a good corner selling The Contributor. He moved to an apartment. Others tell us he’s alive and hanging in there.

As we finished serving our meals for the day out of the truck, we counted 12 residents that had dined with us. We took the leftovers to the food tent for those uptown selling the paper or for those just passing through. I counted 21 tents. Only 3 spots were left before the Sanctuary’s “no vacancy” sign would go up.

On our ride back, we were thankful for our own graces, thankful for being able to serve and have some fellowship with those that have so little, thankful for Nashville Food Project, and thankful God had decided to work through us providing for some of his children.

Rich Sanderson

Teamwork Helps a Garden Grow

On any given day, the groups coming together in the gardens are often as varied as the crops harvested.

A recent week at the Wedgewood Urban Garden welcomed Friends Life, a nonprofit serving the needs of adults with intellectual and development disabilities.  

After harvesting squash... 

...the group gathered flowers for their loved ones. 

"We have always prioritized service learning for our Friends through volunteer work, because we know how much they have to give to the community," said Waverly Harris-Christoper, Friends Life Community Director of Programs.

Meanwhile, students from CRIT's RISE (Refugee and Immigrant Students Empowered) program learned about the work of bees. 

The following day, a workforce development team from Room in the Inn helped agitate the soil where kale had just been harvested.

Ryan with Room in the Inn said he volunteered to help because TNFP had delivered meals to the church where he stays. "I thought it would be nice to give something back to the people who have given to me," he said. 

He sprayed tomato plants with an organic fertilizer made from comfrey (the broad left plant below), which grows well with stinging nettle and blueberry plants.  

Also at the garden, Deanna Kendall, a teacher at St. Cecilia Academy, brought a group from the school’s service camp. Each day the women visit a different organization.

“They get some pretty diverse experience," she said, "and hopefully they find a place to plug in.” 

Cookin' Up A Storm

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Volunteer cooks Nancy and Jencie have been cooking for us over a year. They rock in our tiny kitchen! We are so grateful for their talents and support!

It's a Mystery

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Potatoes!! Awesome students from Harvest Hands helped hill the potatoes--that is, pile soil around the plants' foliage to encourage the growth of more roots, and therefore more potatoes! 

Hide and Seek

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Thanks to employees from the Nashville Predators for coming out to help at our Wedgewood Urban Gardens! They got to put their predatory skills to use by hunting for hard-to-spot snow and sugar snap peas.

Goodlettsville Middle School

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We want to extend our sincerest appreciation for the students at Goodlettsville Middle School who designed and implemented a concessions business to raise money for local causes. We are the humbled and grateful recipient of a generous donation from these young social entrepreneurs. They not only came to present their donation, but happily jumped into several garden projects - on the coldest day of spring! Huge thanks to these students! You are an inspiration!

Getting their Adventure On!

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Team Green volunteers rocked a recent Saturday morning volunteer session at our Wedgewood Urban Garden. These folks know how to work hard and have fun doing it. We can't wait til they come back.

In the Kitchen

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These friendly members of Harpeth Heights Baptist Church joined us in our prep room recently.  Beautiful fruit salads that included local strawberries were the highlight of the salads! If you would like to join us for meal prep, sign up here!

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