"We've maintained our "from the heart sense of community" by only inviting local restaurants and vineyards, pairing culturally diverse live music which reflect the culturally diverse restaurants of Providence, showcasing amazing local chefs and other local talent and by choosing beautiful intimate venues like the Botanical Center of Roger Williams Park."
    ~Mike Ritz, Event Organizer & Development Dir., Genesis Center

What inspired Food for Thought? Is this one reason why it differs from Taste of RI?
What makes this year's event different from those of years past and what characteristics do you intend to keep from the previous years?
Who attends your event?
What are some of the notable vineyards participating?
To date, what are some benefits the Genesis Center has seen from the money raised? What are the long term community benefits and goals?

1.) What inspired Food for Thought? Is this one reason why it differs from Taste of RI?

Food For Thought began 12 years ago as a natural fundraising extension to support and publicize The Genesis Center's culinary arts program. Our culinary arts program is a 13-week course (initially created in conjunction with Johnson & Wales and currently overseen by Genesis Center Chef Branden Lewis, a J&W graduate) for low-income adults looking to enter or rise up in the food service industry -- an industry with fewer barriers of entry and one in which success is based on hard work, talent and perseverance. The course focuses on practical food preparation skills and ServSafe, the highest standard of food safety training and certification in the U.S.

Through participating in Food For Thought restaurants are supported by our culinary students, helping chefs and staff load/unload and even serving and preparing if needed. Besides being a fundraising event for The Genesis Center, our students get to network with local chefs and local chefs get to see first-hand the caliber of students our program produces. Over the years, we've placed hundreds of culinary students in restaurants all over the state. Many of the finest Providence restaurants call us first when looking for kitchen staff.

To borrow from an old cliché, comparing Food For Thought to Taste of Rhode Island is like comparing apples to oranges. Sure, they're both fruit, but the origins, textures, colors and tastes are very different from one another.

For starters, we don't require restaurants to pay to participate. We believe that restaurants are contributing enough through staffing the event and donating their wonderful cuisine.

In addition, we make a conscious effort to support and promote all of our participating restaurants, not only at the event, but throughout the year. We take care of our participants in the best ways a non-profit can by promoting and constantly recommending participating restaurants, conducting joint marketing efforts and holding staff and volunteer meetings at their locations. We're not just holding an annual food event; we're developing partnerships with community- minded businesses that understand the value an outcomes-based non-profit can be to the private sector.

Perhaps most importantly, we don't include national and international products with little to no connection to Rhode Island to compete with our participating restaurants, vendors and wineries. Our event supports and showcases the wonderfully independent diversity of Rhode Island and its rich, international flavors that are all found right here at home. These days, a large percentage (perhaps the majority) of the vendors, restaurants and sponsors of Taste of Rhode Island have very few real ties with our great state.

We're local and we're proud of it!

2.) What makes this year's event different from those of years past and what characteristics do you intend to keep from the previous years?

When making changes/improvements to our event we're always reminded of what food writer Linda Beaulieu, who has attended and aided us at Food For Thought for the past two year, said, "[Food for Thought is]…truly one of the best food and wine events I've ever been to. I've been to bigger and fancier events, but none of them had the sincere, from the heart sense of community. Bravo!"

Even after expanding the number of restaurants from 12 to 30 and the number of attendees from 220 to 350+ we've maintained the "from the heart sense of community" by only inviting local restaurants and vineyards, pairing culturally diverse live music which reflect the culturally diverse restaurants of Providence, showcasing amazing local chefs and other local talent and by choosing beautiful intimate venues like the Botanical Center or Roger Williams Park.

We're so excited by our new partnership with the seven local vineyards that make up the Coastal Wine Trail of Southeast New England (http://www.coastalwinetrail.com/) that we redesigned our logo to accentuate the grape and we took the name Food For Thought on The Coastal Wine Trail.

This year's event is a joint effort to spotlight the wonderful varieties of wine that are grown and made right here at home through pairing the wines with the cuisine presented by our participating restaurants. Other food sampling events isolate their food and drink, we have a history of complementing one with another. Last year, we paired 6 flavors of locally manufactured Yacht Club Soda with 6 cheeses from Farmstead Cheeses; it was a huge hit.

A big addition to this year is our VIP Champagne Hour from 5:30pm-6:30pm. Tickets are limited for the VIP Hour, so that attendees receive extra attention while being the first to sample all of the restaurants' food along with all of the vineyards' premium wines. This is when the best of the best are served up and uncorked. In addition, Chef Joe Hafner of Gracie's will present an intimate cooking demonstration and there will be a writers' table for "foodies" looking to network and converse with local and internationally known food writers and critics. Local writers such as Linda Beaulieu, Normand LeClair, Stephanie Obodda and David Rocheleau will be present. The featured writer of the evening is former Philadelphia food columnist and radio host, Holly Moore. This former owner of Philadelphia's famous, Holly Moore's, is currently the owner of www.Hollyeats.com. Holly has left an indelible mark on the restaurant industry over the past 30 years. Prior to focusing on down-home cooking through his widely read website, Holly helped develop McDonald's Big Mac and was the person in charge of its national distribution in the 1970's. Holly has been featured on the PBS documentary, Sandwiches You Will Like, as well as serving as a hotdog and hamburger expert for Japan's Nipon Television. Holly, one of the country's foremost hotdog connoisseurs, is a huge fan of New York System Hot Weiners-only found in Rhode Island.

3.) Who attends your event?

Last year 25% of our event attendees were from Providence's East Side while the other 75% came from all over the region to include many from Boston. Providence has a growing reputation for diversity and culture, which is accented by our great restaurants - Food For Thought on the Coastal Wine Trail promotes this reputation through viral marketing that extends beyond Rhode Island's borders and then validates this reputation when attendees experience our international vibe.

We pride ourselves on including many sides of Providence with an eclectic mix of restaurants ranging from high-end award winning establishments like Gracie's and Mediterraneo with lesser known small ethnic restaurants like Don Gallo and Machu Picchu. Because of spatial constraints we're limited to the number of restaurants that can participate, so we're very selective. Restaurants that are interested should call us; depending on the representation of that style of food or from that area of Providence we may or may not be able to include them. If we can't, there's always next year.

4.) What are some of the notable vineyards participating?

We're featuring ALL of the vineyards from the Coastal Wine Trail of Southeast New England. The trail includes seven vineyards from Westerly to Cape Cod. These include Langworthy Farm Winery, Newport Vineyards, Greenvale Vineyards, Sakonnet Vineyards, Westport Rivers Vineyard & Winery, Running Brook Vineyards and Truro Vineyards of Cape Cod.

5.) To date, what are some benefits the Genesis Center has seen from the money raised? What are the long term community benefits and goals?

Food For Thought has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for The Genesis Center over the years. The revenue generated from the event assists the non-profit in its mission "to join with the community to provide education and comprehensive services which empower individuals and families of diverse cultures as they move toward self-sufficiency."

Aside from the financial benefits of Food For Thought on the Coastal Wine Trail the event also creates and strengthens new relationships with restaurant owners, chefs, and attendees so that once an adult student completes their English and/or job training at The Genesis Center, they will have more opportunities of finding meaningful work through a trusted community partner. Our partners trust that our students, based on their previous determination and success through our programs, will succeed in their environment too. We take much of the "unknown" out of the equation allowing restaurants in particular to know that they can reduce what are often costly high staff turnover rates just through partnering with The Genesis Center.

In addition, Food For Thought on The Coastal Wine Trail is the largest food and wine pairing specifically celebrating exquisite food and wine found only in Southeast New England. Attendees who eat and drink at our event are supporting Rhode Island.

For additional information, please contact Mike Ritz directly at 401-781-6110 x28 or by email at mike@gencenter.org