Dream Cafe
Cafe · Hartford County ·
Perfectly seasoned chicken, delicious salads, great coffee
Perfectly seasoned chicken, delicious salads, great coffee
"A planned ethical, neighborhood-rooted restaurant project launched as a week-long pop-up inside another local cafe that showcased more than a dozen restaurants and food businesses run by women, LGBTQ people, and people of color. Backed by a $35,000 Kresge planning grant, the team aims to open a permanent, replicable model by 2021 and is weighing formats from a sit-down restaurant to a coffee shop. The initiative emphasizes centering people of color, paying fair wages, creating equitable and welcoming spaces, clustering near member businesses to build local density, and completing a firm business plan within 9–12 months to become eligible for a larger implementation grant. Planning will include site selection, buy-versus-lease decisions, continued community engagement, and programming around ethical operations such as a nine-month panel series on industry issues; the original pop-up is also slated to return at the Allied Media Conference." - Brenna Houck
"An event-driven café whose organizers impressed attendees by assembling a rich, tightly programmed series of talks and activities around food, culture, identity, and equality over the course of just a few days." - Brenna Houck
"Presented as a week-long equitable food industry series and nominated for the Doing It Right award, Dream Cafe is highlighted for centering equity in the food industry through extended programming that aims to address systemic issues." - Brenna Houck
Erin P.
Jen G
Jeanine B.
Tracey S.
Megan P.
Doretta A.
Linda R.
Michael A.