Word comes straight from Chad Houser’s mouth that he’ll be saying sayonara to Parigi, his home-away-from-home for the last five years, in order to be the executive director and chef of Cafe Momentum at the end of August. He’ll be making this announcement to the public at the pop-up dinner tonight with guest chef Graham Dodds. We feel bad for Janice Provost losing her partner-buddy, but this means that Cafe Momentum, a nonprofit restaurant concept aimed to transform the lives of at-risk youth, is moving in the right direction, and we can’t wait to see where it’s headed. Even though the movement is still a baby and celebrated its one year anniversary just a month ago, Houser, Cafe Momentum’s co-founder, has plans to find a permanent location and to expand the program even further in order to include more boys from the Dallas County Youth Village since what Cafe Momentum’s doing is already working so well.
In a blog post announcing his Parigi departure, Houser says:
“Cafe Momentum reminds me why I fell in love with cooking in the first place. It’s familial. It nurtures souls and bodies. Regardless of their background, when these young men come into Cafe Momentum, they speak the same language: food. I’m very grateful to Janice for being such a supportive partner and friend, and to the Cafe Momentum board for believing in me.”
Provost says she isn’t looking for a new Parigi partner, but she’s looking for help in the kitchen. And even though this is the end of the Parigi dream team, she’ll continue working with Houser on their vision for Cafe Momentum, so this ain’t a real goodbye, it’s just where love goes…
