Community kitchen to feature 'pay-as-you-can' model

‘Pay-as-you-can’ restaurant to open in Miamisburg.


A 'pay-as-you-can’ kitchen?

So just how does this “pay-as-you-can” model work? With a focused vision, values, good food, fundraising, volunteers, local support and lots of prayer. A look at some of these ingredients:

Vision

Share love, give hope and provide a sense of community.

Values

Low-cost $10-per-meal menu.

Patrons pay:

— only what they can afford

— typical payment as listed

— pay listed price, plus a little more to help others

— pay with your time in service

Good food

Brunch items include: stuffed challah French toast, quiche du jour, banana foster oatmeal, homemade pancakes, vegetable lasagna, specialty salads, sandwiches and pizza.

Fundraising

Adamson plans to obtain support from major corporations in the Dayton area, and nonprofit support from Miamisburg-area churches.

Another plan is to solicit approximately 350 individuals to give $25 per month on an ongoing basis.

Volunteers/local support

Helpers are encouraged to sign up in advance for a one to two-hour block of time, or welcome to stop by if help is needed on a particular day.

Roughly 15 percent, or 62,930 Montgomery County residents, are unable to get adequate, nutritious food on a consistent basis, according to the Montgomery County Food Bank. But help is on the way in the form of a local community kitchen — one that will differ from the others in the Dayton area by using a pay-as-you-can model.

The restaurant/kitchen is called o.n.e. bistro and is located at 110 S. Second St. in Miamisburg.

After telling a customer to just “pay what you can” in mid-2003, Denise Cerreta transformed her sandwich shop in Salt Lake City, Utah, into a One World Cafe.

That altruistic idea turned into a One World Everybody Eats Foundation and an enthusiastic sliding-scale restaurant movement across the nation.

Robert Adamson of Springboro was one entrepreneur who adopted the “everybody eats” mantra.

He attended the Culinary School at Cincinnati State under the direction of John Kinsella, one of America’s 12 master chefs. He has been in the restaurant/catering business for more than 20 years. This past December, the Second Street Cafe space became available. It seats approximately 53 customers.

“This was a chance to use my abilities as a chef for the greater good. A lot of these food-insecure families are in the middle class and down to one paycheck,” said Adamson, who just returned from an OWEE Foundation summit in Denver. “Often, soup kitchens don’t have an uplifting environment. These community cafes have a positive, friendly atmosphere.”

In addition to being a well-known local chef, he has clocked hundreds of hours as a volunteer.

He was the founder of Fusion student ministries in Miamisburg. As lead volunteer of Clifton SDA Church in Cincinnati, he fed the homeless on a weekly basis from excess food from Robert Adamson Catering.

“My heart goes out to the families that don’t have the means to feed themselves or their children. Most of us are one step away from that situation,” said Adamson, a member of SouthBrook Christian Church in Miami Twp. “It’s our job as Christians or faith believers to love people where they are, and meet their needs.”

The o.n.e. bistro restaurant will be open around mid-February. The community cafe will be open for brunch from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Dinner hours may be added later.

A two-month on-the-job training program, community garden and micro-business are also planned. In the future, the third-floor loft will host private parties.

Soon to be up and running will be the website: www.onebistro.org.

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