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Denver cafe fuels a positive cycle by helping women help themselves

Denver cafe fuels a positive cycle by helping women help themselves

Café Options, a new eatery in downtown Denver, is facing a few challenges. Challenge #1: Café Options is opening in a down economy and in the highly competitive fast-casual category. Never mind that nearly every corner in downtown Denver has a restaurant. Challenge #2: Café Options is backed by a nonprofit organization, and charities also are struggling in the recession.

But after talking to people involved, I began to see that Challenge #1 is going to help overcome Challenge #2, and vice versa. The cafe can help support the nonprofit program, and students from the program can assist the cafe.

“Every profit dollar will go back to Work Options for Women,” said founder and executive director Toni Schmid. “We won’t have to write two extra grants.”

WOW is an 11-year-old program that helps women transition from welfare to careers in the foodservice industry. With the help of donations, grants and $32,000 a year in public funds, WOW turns out 40 to 50 graduates annually.

WOW students undergo a 16-week culinary training program housed in the Denver Department of Human Services. The students serve about 300 meals a day in the department’s cafeteria. A year after graduating, about 90 percent of the women remain employed.

The cafeteria only serves city employees, so to gain more visibility for the program, WOW started looking for a location to open a public restaurant, said John Imbergamo, a local restaurant consultant and a member of WOW’s board of directors. WOW students also will be able to intern at Café Options. Five WOW graduates were hired there.

“We needed at least one, and we ended up with five because they have the best attitude,” said chef Craig Dixon. “These women are so motivated and dedicated.”

Aytan Evans, who graduated from WOW two years ago and worked at a college dining hall, was eager to work at the cafe.

“I’ve been wanting to come here since I found out about it,” she said. Having interns will help Café Options employees prepare the menu, which calls for everything to be made from scratch, Dixon said. Consulting chef Max Mackissock helped develop the menu, which includes sandwiches made of braised sweet Italian sausage, or braised pork shoulder and glazed ham. Entrée prices range from $4.50 for half sandwiches to $7.25 for a full sandwich.

“We’re grinding our meat and making our mustard and our pickles,” Mackissock said. “These ladies are not just scooping and serving. They are learning a lot.”

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