“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn” Benjamin Franklin
Miss Susie’s Newtown Kitchen was the dream of the late Steve Seidensticker, a local restaurateur and founder of community organization Tableseide Cares, Inc, along with his family.
As employers and residents in Sarasota, the principles of Tableseide Restaurant Group were concerned about the near absence of African Americans in their employee pool. Several efforts to recruit African Americans had fallen short. Interested in learning why, Tableseide Cares consulted community members and other restaurateurs. A recurrent theme was the lack of African American owned restaurants that could serve as training grounds where people could learn the business and acquire necessary expertise. The hope is that a thriving restaurant in Newtown will help address the shortage of skilled African American restaurant workers in the Sarasota area.
Tableseide Cares canvassed the area for a promising site. The property at 1741 Martin Luther King Way, where Miss Susie had run her restaurant for over 20 years, seemed ideal. Miss Susie’s Newtown Kitchen will generate economic development and exposure to the neighborhood, while reviving the site and creating careers for Newtown residents. The restaurant will pay homage to Miss Susie, a Newtown icon, whose restaurant served as a community gathering place for decades.
This donation from Catalist Realty will provide one aspiring restaurant industry professional to attend the 16 week training session. During this time they will learn how to do each job from front of house to back of house in a real working restaurant, using Miss Susie’s food truck for training until the permanent restaurant reaches full development.
Catch the Miss Susie’s food truck at many of your favorite local places! Follow @MissSusiesNewtownKitchen on social media to keep up with the truck.
To learn more or donate to the education program to pay the participants and instructors in the work based learning program by visiting: www.MissSusiesNewtownKitchen.com
Catalist Realty is proud to be a local partner and supporter of unrestricted donations for any and all non-profits.
Give us a call today at 941.777.2968 or reach us at INFO@CATALISTREALTY.COM
