Restaurant Beatrice has a small number of designated non-profits we work with. We have a decided mission to invest in our own community and its people, so how we choose to give back echoes these values. Specifically, we are focused on our neighborhood, our immediate food system which includes farmers in our city and ranchers and fishers in the region, and our restaurant is invested in supporting members of the Service Industry. We are fulfilling this via a number of methods and channels.
Nearly all of our 100% BIPOC management team was either born or raised in Oak Cliff or lives in Oak Cliff. While there has been extensive development in our neighborhood, Michelle opened Zen Sushi in 2007, when the Bishop Arts consisted of only two streets on the same block: 7th and Bishop, and the closest sushi bar was across the Trinity River. It was one of the first Asian concepts in Oak Cliff.
At both Zen and Beatrice, we train, employ, and work directly with people from our community. Oak Cliff is a neighborhood undergoing rapid development and gentrification, with large pockets that have been historically underdeveloped, under-resourced, and chronically underemployed. Job creation is a powerful form of equity.
We want to offer a different experience: in terms of our menu, in terms of how we model our practice, in terms of creating spaces that are more inclusive and less exclusive, in terms of how we source and treat our food and people. Restaurant Beatrice pioneers pathways demonstrating culinary excellence and integrity from this community, by its own residents. We are not transplants.
Your patronage of Beatrice gives back to communities that need the most support. We were the first restaurant account for Restorative Farms, a nonprofit that arose from the belief that access to healthy foods is a form of equity to communities that have been resource-depleted. We are pleased to also work closely with a number of local farmers including Joppy Momma’s Farm, which is located in Joppa, one of the last Freedmen’s towns in Texas and a federally-designated food desert. The farm provides organic, high-quality, affordable produce to the community while also creating jobs for neighborhood residents by outfitting them with skills and experience. As much as possible, we know our farmers. We also know one of our ranchers, as we are starting to raise our own pigs.
We are fully vested and investing in our immediate community and its people.
In partnership with Dallas College, Restaurant Beatrice is pioneering a Women in Restaurants Leadership Program, with the goal of helping more women and women of color into leadership positions in the culinary sector. The more women can stay and advance in the industry, the more positive cultural and operational changes will be implemented. Reform work originates with voices that have been excluded and those denied self-determination. This program is designed to develop problem solving skills, bridge theoretical learning with real life application, and introduce ways of navigating career roadblocks.
This free program is open to all people: students, service industry workers, and alumni of Dallas College who want to network, learn, and be a part of positive changes in their field. The following restaurants are providing stage opportunities: Duro Hospitality Group, Rye, Zen Sushi, Roots Southern Table, and Lucia. All students completing this program will receive a certificate from Dallas College. The program starts in January 2024.
To learn more about the program, how to register, and apply for tuition waivers, please email: Steve DeShazo, Senior Director of Workforce for Dallas College’s Dallas College Culinary, Pastry and Hospitality Center: sdeshazo [at] dallascollege.edu.
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