New Year, New Menus

As we at Chow Foods roll into the new year, we will be rolling out some new menus, too. If you’ve been to our website you’ll see that Atlas is Wild About…Calamari for January, but here is a little tidbit to get you excited for February: We’re thinking local oysters! Here at Coastal Kitchen we’ll be wrapping up our Basque menu, and soon you’ll get to see the tasting notes I take from our next menu–Peru. I’m super psyched about this one because I’ve spent alot of time there. Can’t wait to taste this one. Next up, at the end of January you’ll be seeing the wonderful foods of Route 66 pop up at the 5 Spot at the end of January. We’re not too sure beyond that but the Hi-Life is thinking of going Greek. I’ll be sure to keep you updated when I taste the great stuff coming up next year!

Thanks Everyone!

I just wanted to send a thank you out to everyone who came out for our fundraiser. It was a great success, and you can see the article about it in tomorrow’s (wednesday’s) PI. A little preview here from Leslie Kelly’s blog.

Katrina Fundraiser Today at All Restaurants

Today all six CHOW Foods restaurants will donate a portion of their sales from the day to support revitalization of the arts in New Orleans. The money raised will buy art supplies and musical instruments for the students of Fannie C. Williams Middle School in Katrina-ravaged East New Orleans.  The 5 Spot General Manager, Dave Kearns, was inspired to organize this event after his trip to New Orleans with Chef Brandon Karimi-Naser. “The city, food and people are all amazing; however, New Orleans has a long way to go before it is back to pre-Katrina grandeur.  Part of the tragedy is the people that have been displaced are the people who make up the flavor of New Orleans. The musicians, cooks and artists are struggling to get by,” Says Kearns. Taking this to heart—and because the Big Easy is all about excess—he took his fundraising to the next level and asked all 6 of the CHOW Foods restaurants to participate.

 

For the entire day on December 11^th, 50% of the revenue generated by the fundraiser at the 6 restaurants will be donated to the Fannie C. Williams School. The school has over three quarters of the students on free or reduced price lunch, but is blessed with a professional musician and art teacher on staff. The money from this fundraiser will go to providing these teachers with the instruments and supplies they need to pass on their knowledge to the children who will rejuvenate the culture of music and art in New Orleans.

 

Within the 5 Spot, Kearns, with the assistance of noted local artist, Molly Norris, assembled a group of local artists to donate artwork portraying the unique vibrancy of the city. Each of their works will hang in the restaurant for the duration of the menu while being sold by silent auction. The auction, with all proceeds also going directly to the middle school’s art and music programs, is running through Christmas Eve.