Wearing a bright orange bandanna and a smile, Janet Kelley leaned over a fresh slab of salmon and carefully applied a light brown sauce. Within minutes, the gourmet dish was prepared and wrapped, ready to be taken to The Good Shepherd Alliance — a Leesburg based homeless shelter and charity organization where Kelley is a volunteer. Kelley, however, was not alone as seven members from the nonprofit organization busily prepared more meals including stuffed portabello mushrooms and smoked gouda hamburgers.
The setting for this event — Let's Dish!, a newly opened store in Ashburn that is the first of its kind in the region.
"They were nice enough to call and give the proceeds to us today as a goodwill gesture," said Janice King, director of social services for The Good Shepherd Alliance.
Those who attended the event — ranging from staff, volunteers and residents of the shelter — were the first in the region to participate in a service that is sweeping the food industry.
THE CONCEPT of the store is simple. Lets Dish! provides the ingredients, cleanup and kitchen space. For $155, customers can chose eight meals from a monthly menu and prepare them under the supervision of the staff. With each meal designed to serve four to six people, the result is three week's worth of dinner made in less than two hours.
"This is the answer to the dinner dilemma," said Elizabeth Marcotte, co-owner of Lets Dish!. "I am the target customer. I am a mom of over scheduled children."
Marcotte, the former fund-raising chair for Nysmith School for the Gifted in Herndon, believes that in this busy commuter culture, the evening dinner table is being replaced with take-out. With little time at the end of the day to prepare a nutritious meal, the bond of the dinner table and dietary wellness is at a loss.
During the prebooked session, customers prepare dish after dish as they work through their chosen menu. After each is completed, the food is stored in the store’s refrigerator. On standby is a team of staff that is ready to help customers with problems ranging from measurements to a complete walk though of recipes.
"If they need help, we’re there," said Jennifer Reed, an employee at Let’s Dish!. "If they have questions or need something, we’ll grab it."
WHEN THE SESSION is over, each customer packs their selections into a cooler — which must be brought from home — and the food is transported to the freezer at home. Dishes can be stored up to 60 days. Marcotte said each meal can be cooked in 30 minutes or less, requiring far less time than actually cooking a meal each night the traditional way.
Two to three sessions will be held each day with up to 16 people attending a single session. Parties such as baby showers, are often a popular session, however the service is open to anyone from singles to couples.
As the free preview session with The Good Shepherd Alliance wound down, the store cooler filled with gourmet food. Each person who attended that evening prepared two dishes — one for themselves and the other for the shelter. As the oldest and largest homeless charity organization in the county, the preview event was a productive way to showcase the business and help out a good cause.
"The fact that more and more businesses understand the problem of homelessness and take us in, the more people will realize the problem," said Mark Gunderman, vice chairman of The Good Shepherd Alliance.