Abraham Salum Popped Up at Cafe Momentum Last Night

I deputized Disher Melisa Ambers to cover last night’s sold-out Café Momentum dinner at the the Communities Foundation of Texas on Caruth-Haven. The concept behind the dinner series, developed by Chad Houser and Janice Provost of Parigi, is dedicated to teaching young, at-risk youth with life skills. Café Momentum works closely with the programs of the Youth Village Resources of Dallas. Local chefs and volunteers donate time and product and the kids work alongside the pros. Their common goal is to open a permanent restaurant for the program.

Last night was the largest and most formal Café Momentum dinner to date. The young men, under the direction of Phil Willis, delivered flawless fine dining service. They passes appetizers in the foyer as the 100 guests arrived. Most of the young men were veterans; only one had never been a part of Cafe Momentum before. One of them, in fact, has already graduated from the culinary program at the Youth Village and has finished his time at the detention facility. He’s back in school but wanted to volunteer.

Jump for photos and the full report.

cm1 — Spinach and Jicama Salad with Hibiscus Vinaigrette and Grilled Homemade Queso Fresco.(photo by Melisa Ambers)

The crowd was a mix of repeats–some have been to all dinners to date–and new faces. While the dinners are an important part of the fundraising efforts, the organization is still in search of larger donations to help open the restaurant. To date, they’ve raised more than $50,000, through the pop-up dinners, including one private event coming up later this month at the Farmers Market, as well as individual donations. Upcoming dinners are sold out through December. Next up: Matt McCallister, at Hibiscus. Brian Luscher is December’s chef, and he’ll be cooking at Cane Rosso. The organization has a new website (www.cafemomentum.org), with a photo gallery from past events and information about the guest chefs.

Abraham Salum’s menu was delightful. People went bonkers over the corn soup. He said he had plans to add the corn soup to the menu at Komali–which elicited cheers from the crowd. But the biggest news of the evening came from two of the kids in the program: One of the young men has gotten a job in the restaurant industry; another got his GED and a $1,000 scholarship.

Here is the menu.

PASSED