Food & Friends Minute: Restaurant Roll Call: Open Kitchen

April 11, 2012

Restaurant Roll Call: Open Kitchen

Thursday, April 26th is fast approaching... make your reservations for a Dining Out for Life participating restaurant in your neighborhood. Check out what Virginia restaurant Open Kitchen, has to say about why they support Dining Out for Life and why you should too!

Restaurant Roll Call: Open Kitchen!

WHY DO YOU SUPPORT
FOOD & FRIENDS?

Open Kitchen supports the Food & Friends mission because we have all known someone who has suffered from HIV/AIDS, cancer or another life-altering disease. We have watched them go through difficult times and have supported them in any way we can throughout their process of dealing with the disease. Our owner, Hue-Chan Karels, had served as a volunteer in Food & Friends’ kitchen back in 2002, prepping meals for Food & Friends’ clients, as well as served as an Ambassador at several Dining Out for Life events. She is now proud to open her kitchen to Food & Friends.

WHY DO YOU PARTICIPATE IN DOL?

Dining Out for Life helps expose the mission and values of Food & Friends to a wider audience and we are proud to be a part of this event.

WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT YOUR RESTAURANT?

There are three main things that we feel are extra special about Open Kitchen:

Open Kitchen is not just a restaurant. Open Kitchen serves as a culinary space for cooking classes and private events as well. We have many social events, corporate parties, and even our own version of Iron Chef Competitions.

Another thing that sets us apart is the labor of love we put into preparing food for our guests. We believe in serving honest, fresh, hand-made food sourced from local ingredients. In this labor of love, we make our own stocks, blend our own spices and even grow herbs on our terrace. We do not get our demi-glace, jus, or sauces out of a can; we make them fresh in our kitchen. We truly honor each guest by preparing “real” food.

Another special aspect of Open Kitchen is the “dining experience” we bring to our guests. When guests dine at Open Kitchen, not only do they feel the labor of love we put into all the dishes we serve, they also experience our sense of “family”. Our employees aren’t just “employees”, they are a part of our team we call a “family”. This sense of family is extended to each guest. We truly care about what we make, how we serve it and what you think. As Executive Chef Ken says, “We aren’t Secret Kitchen, we are Open Kitchen.” Ask us a question about the ingredients, how your meal is prepared or take a tour of our kitchens. We are here to share! Our goal is to prepare honest food, share how we make it and have you enjoy each course. And when a guest tells us, “That’s the best meal I’ve had in years!”, we know we’ve done our job!