Food for Thought: A Gourmet Soup Kitchen

April 8, 2009 — -- Chef Richard Weinroth quit his San Fernando Valley restaurant business a few years ago, looking for a change. He has now found his calling in the most unusual place for a chef: He cooks food for the hungry and homeless. Very good food.

The chef with a 20 years experieince, works four days a week with a charity organization called Meet Each Need with Dignity, (MEND) where he whips up mouthwatering masterpieces for those in need.

A New Approach to Soup Kitchen Dining

Weinroth cooks up meals in Los Angeles that include sides like curry coconut creamed spinach and sweet potatoes with dried cherries.

His inspiration came after he did volunteer work in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. It was then he discovered that serving a hungry person a delicious meal was a chef's greatest reward; so Weinroth brought that attitude and his skills to California to make meals with MEND to feed the hungry.

"It is a little more work than making a peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but it is better than peanut butter and jelly sandwiches," 42-year-old Weinroth said.

"I read in the paper and they said that the food is like better than some restaurants. And I was thinking, '"Wow,'" said Sherry, an unemployed and hungry patron who came along with her sister.

Sherry, who is not homeless and declined to give her last name added, "It is good."

MEND, which is 99 percent volunteer driven and strives to relieve the effects of poverty, receives no state or federal assistance for its program. Local grocery stores donate all the food and more than 35,000 poverty level clients enjoy free meals annually thanks to the program.

And at this exclusive eatery, patrons usually don't just come for one meal, Weinroth said.

Perhaps it's because in the last year alone MEND had a 60 percent increase in the number of hungry coming through its doors.

The hungry don't just get served a meals for the day. They leave with a box filled with enough food to feed a hungry family for three days.

But it's not just the service the need appreciate; it's the actual quality of the food.

One hungry man named Donnie said the meals and the service have a homey feeling to them. He said the needy don't have to feel embarrassed about helping themselves to the classy provisions.

Helping the Homeless

Homelessness is a national issue with 31 million American living in hunger or on the edge of it according to a 2000 government report .

Feeding Hunger estimates one in eight Americans goes hungry. If you are interested in finding a food bank in your area click here.