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Nonprofit cafe benefits from pro chef’s experience

Nonprofit cafe benefits from pro chef’s experience

PORTLAND ORE. —After raising money, scrubbing floors, painting, scavenging for furniture and haggling over prices for equipment, a remodeled nonprofit cafe in the north Portland neighborhood of Kenton was almost ready for re-opening. It just needed a menu.

Volunteer Antjuan Tolbert, a 27-year-old entrepreneur who spearheaded the renovation of a sleepy coffee shop into a neighborhood restaurant, said he was cracking open the “Joy of Cooking” and going online for recipes, when a curious James Bradley showed up at the door to see what was going on. A culinary school graduate, Bradley worked at an upscale restaurant in Portland. —After raising money, scrubbing floors, painting, scavenging for furniture and haggling over prices for equipment, a remodeled nonprofit cafe in the north Portland neighborhood of Kenton was almost ready for re-opening. It just needed a menu.

With Bradley’s expertise, Tolbert transformed the former Friday’s Espresso into Po’ Shines Café de la Soul, a full-service restaurant offering contemporary soul food that is gaining a following in the neighborhood as it also teaches disadvantaged youth about entrepreneurship and foodservice careers. About a dozen teenage volunteers work at the cafe. —After raising money, scrubbing floors, painting, scavenging for furniture and haggling over prices for equipment, a remodeled nonprofit cafe in the north Portland neighborhood of Kenton was almost ready for re-opening. It just needed a menu.

“The youth are learning how to be a barista, prep cook, line cook [and about] customer service, janitorial duties, machinery maintenance and finances, to some degree,” Tolbert said. “They are getting an inkling of what it is to be an entrepreneur.” —After raising money, scrubbing floors, painting, scavenging for furniture and haggling over prices for equipment, a remodeled nonprofit cafe in the north Portland neighborhood of Kenton was almost ready for re-opening. It just needed a menu.

Work experience and entrepreneurship has always been at the heart of the cafe, which is owned by Celebration Tabernacle, a nondenominational Christian church that runs a job skills program called Teach Me to Fish. Tolbert had worked in the cafe when he was a teen. After returning from college and starting his own graphic-design business, he was asked to help renovate the restaurant. —After raising money, scrubbing floors, painting, scavenging for furniture and haggling over prices for equipment, a remodeled nonprofit cafe in the north Portland neighborhood of Kenton was almost ready for re-opening. It just needed a menu.

Chef Bradley, who does some catering on the side, quit his job to volunteer full time in the cafe. His menu is an eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary soul food dishes—chicken and waffles, catfish omelets, barbecued ribs, and a pulled-pork version of a Philly cheese steak sandwich. —After raising money, scrubbing floors, painting, scavenging for furniture and haggling over prices for equipment, a remodeled nonprofit cafe in the north Portland neighborhood of Kenton was almost ready for re-opening. It just needed a menu.

“This is something I’ve always wanted to do, to be involved with an outreach,” Bradley said. “It’s great to be able to teach others who do not know what they want to do in life, to give them a push and suggestions for what they could be doing.” —After raising money, scrubbing floors, painting, scavenging for furniture and haggling over prices for equipment, a remodeled nonprofit cafe in the north Portland neighborhood of Kenton was almost ready for re-opening. It just needed a menu.

The cafe exists on donations. Profits are put back into the restaurant, Tolbert said. —After raising money, scrubbing floors, painting, scavenging for furniture and haggling over prices for equipment, a remodeled nonprofit cafe in the north Portland neighborhood of Kenton was almost ready for re-opening. It just needed a menu.

“It’s a lot of prayer and steadfastness,” he said. “I’m not sure how we do it.” —After raising money, scrubbing floors, painting, scavenging for furniture and haggling over prices for equipment, a remodeled nonprofit cafe in the north Portland neighborhood of Kenton was almost ready for re-opening. It just needed a menu.

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