A four-course meal from soup to salad to a choice of entrees and side dishes to dessert for $10. That’s what makes Clara’s at the Cathedral one of Downtown’s best-kept dining secrets.
The partnership between St. John’s Cathedral and the Culinary Arts Program at the Clara White Mission began about two years ago. It affords students in the culinary program the opportunity to plan and prepare a meal and then serve it to the public in a real-world setting, said Clara White Mission CEO and President Ju’Coby Pittman-Peele.
“Our students create recipes, plan the meal, purchase the food and then prepare it and serve it. Then they bus the tables and wash the dishes. The students get a front of the house and a back of the house experience,” she added.
All profits from the lunch go back into the program because, “With all the budget cuts for nonprofits, we’re trying to earn our own way. We want to be a model for other nonprofits,” said Pittman-Peele.
The buffet lunch is served every Friday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and it attracts quite a crowd. The room is set up with tables for eight, so groups of all sizes and solo diners can find a seat and enjoy some fellowship over lunch.
“I like to seat different groups together. It’s great to see people meet each other for the first time and make new friends,” said Patrick McMillan, a volunteer at the mission who also serves as maitre d’ at Clara’s at the Cathedral.
Pittman-Peele said since the Culinary Arts Program began in 2003, more than 300 people have been taken off the streets, housed and taught a trade they could use to get back into society. The 20-week program is state-certified and more than 60 percent of its graduates remain in the workforce.
“We are the only nonprofit organization in Florida with a program like this,” she added.
The menu for the following Friday’s lunch is posted each Wednesday at www.clarawhitemission.org. The Culinary Arts Program also caters private events of all sizes. For more information call 354-4162.