As a kid in Delaware, I really enjoyed being a part of our high school's theater productions. There are a lot of similarities between restaurants and the theater - the same adrenaline thrill of being on stage is what I enjoy about opening and running restaurants. Every day at 12:00 noon and 5:00 in the evening, the curtain opens and the show begins. Every plate is an expression of our "art" and even though we have been cooking in Seattle for twenty years, we are presenting our food for the first time to our new customers. Each meal is planned as if you are eating with us for the very first time.
There's no doubt that our restaurants have directly benefited from the many arts organizations that have relocated to the city core. In acknowledgement of this, we have decided to concentrate some of our community sponsorship dollars in the direction of the downtown arts scene. I'd like to announce a new partnership with the Paramount Theater that will begin this September. In exchange for catering opening parties and other events at the theater, we will receive a year's worth of tickets to every night of every Paramount show in the '97 -'98 season. These tickets are for the Paramount's premium "Front and Center " seats which also include membership in the Front and Center Club. Pre-show entrance to the Club lounge and complimentary private parking are a few of the additional benefits that come with these tickets.
Why am I telling you all this? Because in appreciation of our customers and your consistent patronage of our restaurants, we want to give these tickets to you. When you come into the restaurants, drop your name in the fishbowls at the host stands and in coming weeks we will randomly draw names and send tickets to the winners for this season's shows. If you haven't seen the schedule, it's a knock-out lineup with big shows like "Showboat", "Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk", "Big", "Smokey' Joe's Café", "Riverdance", "Chicago" and a number of other great musical events.
To me this is a good way to support the theater and at the same time show you our appreciation for your business. If you win a set of tickets, enjoy them on us! Another partnership that I wanted to announce is the Dahlia Lounge Community Service Award, a scholarship program for students at Seattle Central Community College. This award will enable students to attend the program tuition-free for one academic quarter. Awards are based on the community service and volunteer work of the students. The school has just announced this year's awards to three students: Robert Parker and Shaun McCain (who have both volunteered with various Share Our Strength programs) and Christopher Caruso (who has worked with project Open Hand preparing nutritious meals for AIDS patients in San Francisco as well as other Aids relief related events in Seattle). We wish these students the very best in their training.
Don't forget the Food Lifeline BBQ and Blues event taking place Sunday, August 17th on the North Seattle Community College campus. I'll be cooking with employees from our three restaurants who are all volunteering their time on this afternoon. We are expecting a good sized crowd so get your tickets while they last by calling 545-6600. The $10 admission includes your BBQ meal of salmon, chicken or ribs and the great blue music of lead act John Hammond plus games and entertainment for the kids.
Last but not least, Jackie and I were in Toronto for a vacation last month. I'd always heard great things about the city so we booked a flight and went. Highlights: Cafe Centro - delicious urban Italian food, and a great room. Grana - a terrific antipasto bar we happened upon ( I felt like I was in Florence). O2 - yes the name describes just what it is...an oxygen bar. Walk in, put a tube up your nose and get high on oxygen. I had mine through a grapefruit filter. What a gas (ha ha).
Tom.
