Chef Anthony (of Mission Street Food, Mission Chinese Food, Mission Burger, Commonwealth and Mission Bowling Club) has a grand new plan to open a fully charitable restaurant in the SF Food Bank’s warehouse. To make it happen, they’re trying to get a big grant from Mission: Small Business, which requires we all cast an online vote. Here’s the plan, straight from Anthony:
I’ve been sketching plans to serve food inside the Food Bank itself, in their warehouse, as a kind of a hybrid between restaurant and fundraiser. The warehouse is pretty exhilarating to behold with immense skylights and massive aisles of produce and 2,000-pound bags of rice being mobilized for distribution across the city. There’s a space in the middle that clears out around 6pm each day and could probably fit a kitchen on wheels and about 20 seats, and though it’s just a swath of concrete in a warehouse, I think it could be home to an extraordinary restaurant.
Apart from the dramatic setting and the idealistic nature of the establishment, I think it would also be able to transcend conventional restaurant economics and offer unparalleled value by way of non-profit partnership. Diners could make a donation beforehand to secure a reservation, then reap the benefits of subsidized food and labor, and the absence of tax and gratuity. Meanwhile, the Food Bank would use its savings on food, labor and overhead—all of which could generate over $1000 per night to feed those in need. It’s a win-win.
Read more! Vote here! (Log in with Facebook and then search for “Mission Chinese Food.”)
 has a grand new plan to open a fully charitable restaurant in the SF Food Bank’s warehouse. To make it happen, they’re trying to get a big grant from Mission: Small Business, which requires we all cast an online […]</p>
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Start charging $20 for the MBC burger with additional $5 going to the cause.
What a fantastic idea!
On the one hand, that sounds kinda cool; on the other and — is that the guy who parks a motherfucking LOTUS at Commonwealth?
also the same guy that servers commodity meat for 15$ a burger. I prefer all my hormones, pesticides and nitrates around 1.99 a burger at McDonald’s or his favorite… popeyes. blahhh
I drive a ’98 Toyota. I think the Lotus is Mitt Romney’s.
It doesn’t even post to your Facebook wall (unless you tell it to)! Vote right away!
Nothing says “Food Bank” like $15 hamburgers.
wouldn’t it be a more sustainable practice to just ask all those that vote to donate the $20 (or more) that they would spend on the meal direct to the food bank.
This would also forego the costs of developing a mobile kitchen, paying a chef, etc. and reach the end goal much quicker!
Yeah, I’ve never understood why people need to get something for themselves out of a donation.
Why would you need to hire a chef… oh yeah, Anthony inst one, he just started Mission Street Food exploiting chefs
Hi Jacob, KyleM and True, these are good points.
KyleM, I totally agree. But I’m not really asking anyone for a donation. More like trying to just embed a social good into an existing product or market, like free trade coffee or compostable containers. So I’m hoping that people who would already spend money on something will just spend money on this thing instead. The challenge, and why it hasn’t caught on yet, is finding a way to make the product competitive in spite of the actual cost of the social good. So like being the first to switch to compostable containers, but actually selling at a discount by partnering with the manufacturer of compostable containers instead of paying regular wholesale for styrofoam containers.
In this case, instead of a high end restaurateur making a small margin, the consumer will get a discount and the charity will get some funding. It would be boring to get into the nitty gritty of restaurant economics, but let’s just call it socially motivated arbitrage. If you actually care about numbers I’m happy to email you.
Jacob, presumably anyone who wants to donate money already would. The target audience is foodies who aren’t inclined to donate, so implicitly they wouldn’t just by me asking, and regardless, I’m just not asking for a donation.
I agree that the whole thing could be more efficient if Chase donated $250k to the Food Bank, or at least that it would take a year or more for this endeavor to raise more than $250k. It would definitely be a more efficient use of my time. The reality is that Chase is awarding grants to small businesses with a community serving agenda, not donating money to anyone. I am just proposing a community serving small business. If Chase’s panel chooses someone else who wants to put solar panels on their factory or something, that’s cool too. I just think this would be a) interesting and b) probably more community serving than a lot of the 2,000 plus applicants.
The vote I think your referring to is the qualifying 250 votes of support for this grant. Voting costs $0 so it’s not really asking much.
True, I never really refer to myself as a chef if I can help it. Do I design and execute successful dishes in restaurants? I guess, but I’m pretty content to let people who want to be chefs be the chefs. Maybe like how the RZA sometimes raps, but honestly, is a better producer.
This sounds extremely stupid. Who would want to eat in an atmosphere like this? The lowest form of idiot who’s looking for a crazy environment to eat his over priced food in.
Imagine that, a bunch of food snobs and Mission elitists hoofing it down to the Bayview to spend $15 on a burger inside a warehouse meant to feed needy people.
A better idea would be to buy a $10 burger instead and donating $5 to the food bank.
I hate that all the haters are the only ones that have commented so I just want to say: Anthony I’ve loved every project you’ve been involved with and I’m glad you do so much to make my neighborhood a better place.