A non-profit organization serving as a transition program for at-risk youth is looking to open its first restaurant in Nashville.
Café Momentum started seven years ago in Dallas after chef Chad Houser had the opportunity to teach young men in juvenile detention how to make ice cream.
The organization is seeking to expand in Dallas, Pittsburg, and Nashville, with plans to open up markets in Atlanta, Denver, and Houston, according to Rokeisha Bryant, executive director at Café Momentum Nashville.
“Essentially, each local organization is responsible for building its restaurant and community service center,” Bryant said.
The organization provides young people with case management services, counseling, and educational services. It typically works with young people between 15 and 19 years old with a juvenile case contact.
Initially, in Texas, this means those who may have been to a juvenile detention center or facility. However, due to the justice reforms in Nashville, the definition is intended for those diverted from detention centers.
“They may have stolen their mom’s car and because they don’t know how to drive, hit another car,” said Bryant. “They’re not going to lock a young person up for that. They’ll refer them to Cafe Momentum.”
Those referred to the organization go through a paid internship program. Because the Nashville branch still needs a physical location, its internship program is quarterly instead of yearly.
The students learn basic cutting skills and specific food profiles to graduate from the program while passing a food handler certification through the National Restaurant Association. They know to make basic bread, eggs, sauces, vegetables, and more.
Anyone who graduates can continue to help Cafe Momentum’s popup dinner and catering services.
For its catering services, Café Momentum makes seasonal “farm-to-table” dishes.
“Everything is from scratch,” Bryant said. “No burgers or anything like that. It’s really high-end food.”
Café Momentum currently caters to the Nashville Predators and serves dishes such as Butternut squash and quinoa, tiger salad, pork peanut noodles, and colorful wild noodles.
Café Momentum Nashville hopes to build its restaurant within the 37208 zip code.
“We specifically chose that area, that zip code, because of the disproportionate minority contact and incarceration rates that have been happening in that community historically,” Bryant said.
Currently, Café Momentum is hoping to sign a lease within the next couple of weeks, and start fundraising for the restaurant, to build it out and have it opened by 2024. The budget for the build-out and community service component is $4 million.
