HARVEST KITCHEN REOPENS LOCAL-FOODS CAF?? IN PAWTUCKET??
Pawtucket, RI ??? Farm Fresh Rhode Island is excited to announce that after a short haitus, its Harvest??Kitchen Caf?? has reopened in downtown Pawtucket ??? with new hours, a new menu, and a re-envisioned??space!
The caf?? focuses on fresh, locally sourced ingredients and now offers a full selection of made-to-order breakfast and lunch favorites, as well as a creative build-your-own menu ??? all packed with??vegetarian and vegan options, as well as for meat lovers.
The spaceous, bright and airy caf?? on the corner??of Main and Bayley Streets in downtown Pawtucket (2 Bayley St) has increased capacity for seating more??eat-in customers as well as hosting larger lunch meetings and other gatherings.
Customers can even call??ahead to place orders for pickup, or to discuss customized catering services with Harvest Kitchen chefs.
???We are excited that Harvest Kitchen is bringing more nutritious food options to downtown Pawtucket???connecting more local eaters with fresh food sourced from local farms,??? says Farm Fresh RI Co-Executive Director Sheri Griffin. ???Our newly realized vision for the caf?? expands on our current line of??youth-made jarred products to offer an extensive menu of freshly made dishes that will appeal to an even??wider variety of customers while supporting even more farmers and small food producers in our region.???
Harvest Kitchen is open Monday through Friday, 7:00am to 3:00pm. (Closed on Fourth of July.) To call ahead: 401-335-3766.
About Harvest Kitchen??
Begun in 2009 by local food hub Farm Fresh RI, Harvest Kitchen is a nonprofit culinary job training??program for youth ages 16???19 involved with the RI Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF).??Trainees work to create value-added products using ingredients sourced from local farms, and get hands-on retail experience selling their goods at farmers markets and working in the Harvest Kitchen Local-Foods Caf?? in downtown Pawtucket.??
Harvest Kitchen has seen many iterations over the years, with the very first training session held in a??commercial kitchen in Providence, the second in a church on Broad St., and the third in the Mathewson St??Methodist Church where the program remained until 2013. Then the program moved into its first home in??Pawtucket, a small space on Pawtucket Ave that was quickly outgrown as Harvest Kitchen continued to??expand both the number of youth served in the program and the amount of local produce it could process??into jarred goods. In 2016, working closely with the city of Pawtucket and Pawtucket Central Falls??Development, Harvest Kitchen moved into its current location on the first floor of the renovated, historic??Gately building at 2 Bayley St in Pawtucket.??
By 2017, this large new space had enabled the training program and commercial kitchen to double??capacity for teaching local youth and processing local food???and a caf?? plus corner store was launched,??adding much-needed access to fresh, nutritious food options for the neighborhood. Today, Harvest??Kitchen???s front of house has been fine-tuned to absorb the corner store, still offering select shelf-stable??products from local producers, and has expanded the caf?? component to better meet the needs of??customers.??
About Farm Fresh Rhode Island??
Farm Fresh Rhode Island is a 501c3 nonprofit organization founded in 2004. We’re a small organization??with a big mission???growing a local food system that values the environment, health and quality of life of??area farmers and eaters. Part incubator, part activator, we have a wide array of access, education, and??distribution programs aimed at building healthier communities, increasing access to fresh food,??strengthening community-based businesses, and improving the impact of food production and??distribution on our environment. For more information, please visit??www.farmfreshri.org.??