PAPER CITY MAG Houston’s Belong Kitchen Attracts Top Chefs, Gives Adults With Disabilities a Special Work Place of Their Own
Link to full article on Paper City Magazine FOODIE EVENTS / RESTAURANTS Houston’s Belong Kitchen Attracts Top Chefs, Gives Adults With Disabilities a Special Work Place of Their Own This Is No Ordinary Grab-and-Go Kitchen BY LAURANN CLARIDGE // 05.08.24 PHOTOGRAPHY MARLO WISE SAVE ARTICLE Everyone should have a community, a place to be, a place to go, a place to work, a place where they feel like they truly belong. Thanks to Kim Brown, many adults in West Houston and beyond with developmental and intellectual disabilities (IDD) have found that place in Belong Kitchen, a grab-and-go meal prep spot located in Memorial City. Founded by Brown as a 501c3 organization to provide dignified paid employment for individuals like her daughter Ellie, Belong Kitchen serves a workplace home for people who might have struggled to find a meaningful job. Now those individuals have an opportunity to not only work with new friends and colleagues in a professional kitchen, but also to cook alongside some of Houston’s most notable chefs. “Belong is really a story about a community coming together to provide a safe, nurturing place for our special employees to work and grow together while learning to make food that our customers can enjoy and can feel good about supporting,” Kim Brown tells PaperCity. “We were so fortunate to find a landlord that understood the need for Belong in our community. And we’ve been blessed beyond measure to have some of Houston’s best restaurant minds work with us to design, furnish and cultivate our kitchen.” With more than 75 volunteers who work alongside its talented employees, Belong Kitchen created a guest chef program as an extension of that community support. This has some of the Bayou City’s best chefs lending their time and expertise to teach Belong Kitchen’s employees some of their restaurants’ signature dishes. The program kicked off with Tony’s executive chef Kate McLean and through the last several months has featured chefs such as Jonathan Levine of Jonathan’s the Rub, Raffi Nasr of Craft Pita, Aaron Bludorn of Bludorn and Navy Blue, along with Bludorn’s colleague executive chef Alexandra Pena, who mans the range at the new restaurant Bar Bludorn. Johnny Carrabba even stopped by to teach the Belong Kitchen sous chefs how to prepare pasta and salad Carrabba’s style. During the month of May, you can indulge in some of the meals Creole chef José Arévalo and his wife Lily from Brennan’s of Houston taught their eager student chefs to recreate. Arévalo, a 40-year-veteran of Brennan’s (the longest-running employee there), took advantage of crawfish season and shared his recipe for Brennan’s crawfish enchiladas stuffed with crawfish tail meat, cheese and, peppers and topped with his signature tomatillo salsa. “I was touched by the Belong employees’ hospitality and generosity, how they welcomed our team into their kitchen and treated us like family,” Arévalo says. “I was most impressed with how well the group followed instructions and quickly learned the Brennan‘s recipes we shared with them.” Brennan’s owner Alex Brennan Martin notes: “My wife, Robin, happened upon an article about Belong Kitchen some time ago and shared it with us. The restaurant is often approached with charitable opportunities. And, frankly, it can be overwhelming with so many good causes. But seeing the smiles of the Belong team and hearing the passion Kim has for these young people made it a no-brainer. “Our chef team loves working with young people who want to learn in the restaurant. It’s one of our great joys. And getting to do it with the Belong team just makes us smile as well.” You can pick up a family-style meal of Arévalo’s enchiladas that feeds four to six people for $55 Wednesdays during Belong Kitchen’s shop hours, which start at 8 am and run until everything sells out. (And we’re told dishes from the chef series usually do sell out.) In addition to the chef meals, you can swing in and grab a hot lunch like a grilled chicken sandwich, a Belong bacon burger, or a Cantina bowl from 11 am to 1:30 pm Mondays through Fridays. Go here to find out more about the changing daily family-style meals you can bring home like Nonna’s rigatoni and a Margherita Pizza Tart. Or with 48 hours’ notice, let them cater and deliver to your next event everything from charcuterie boards to box lunches, breakfast treats and decadent desserts. Belong Kitchen is located at Village Towers Plaza, 9655 Katy Freeway, Suite 3105. Link to full article
Brennan’s of Houston : April’s Guest Chef
May 1st Brennan’s of Houston, José and Lily Arévalo Chef José opens and oversees the operations of the kitchen at Brennan’s of Houston. Chef José has worked at Brennan’s longer than any other employee- 40 years! He and his wife, Lily, who also works at Brennan’s, stopped by Belong to teach our employees how to make crawfish enchiladas and you’re going to love them! It’s crawfish season and you’re going to love Brennan’s Crawfish Enchilada Recipe! Corn tortillas are filled with crawfish tail meat, peppers and cheese and topped with Brennan’s very own house made tomatillo salsa! Be sure to grab these every Wednesday during May!
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse: April’s Guest Chef
April 3rd Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse, Town & Country Jesus has over 14 years of experience creating exciting and delicious food. He began his career in Memphis, Tennessee before landing in Houston as the Chef Partner at Flemings. Jon has over 25 years of experience in the restaurant industry and is currently Operating Partner of Fleming’s. We had a great time in the kitchen with Jesus and Jon and look forward to offering their delicious dish to our customers! Available every Wednesday in April! Juicy pork tenderloin brined overnight in Fleming’ s special medley of toasted spices then grilled to perfection and basted with a delicious apple cider brown sugar glaze and served over a bed of sautéed jicama. The pork is accompanied with apricot onion infused green beans. This dish is packed full of flavor and sure to please everyone at your table!
Johnny Carrabba: March’s Guest Chef
March 6th Carrabba’s According to Johnny Carrabba, this recipe happened by accident ! But there’s no mistaking how delicious it is! You’re going to fall in love with this decadent combination of perfectly grilled chicken, sautéed mushrooms and peas tossed with penne pasta and drenched in a light cream sauce. You don’t want to miss this! We are also offering Carrabba’s famous house salad with creamy parmesan dressing. Available every Wednesday in March! Johnny Carrabba- Johnny needs no introduction. He’s a beloved restauranteur in Houston and his restaurants are where Houstonians celebrate, seek comfort and enjoy nourishment and hospitality like none other. Johnny was kind enough to spend some time with our employees and we all enjoyed a little glimpse into what makes Carrabba’s the legend that it is today.
FSR: Belong Kitchen to Feature Chef Aaron Bludorn and Alexendra Peña
https://www.fsrmagazine.com/industry-news/belong-kitchen-to-feature-chef-aaron-bludorn-and-alexendra-pena/https://canvasrebel.com/meet-kimberly-brown-2/ “Every Wednesday during the month of February, Belong Kitchen (Belong), a neighborhood non-profit grab-n-go kitchen that employs adults with intellectual and developmental differences, is featuring a menu item created by Guest Chef, Aaron Bludorn and Alexandra Peña. Chefs Aaron and Alexandra visited Belong on January 12th and worked alongside employees to train them to prepare the Shepherd’s Pie recipe that elevates a classic comfort food dish to a next-level culinary delight by using only the highest quality ingredients. A layer of ground beef blended with spices, red wine, Worcestershire, garlic, onions, peas and carrots is topped with a layer of fluffy mashed potatoes, browned to perfection and topped with white cheddar cheese. Side salads and garlic bread are also available to complete a hearty dinner that everyone in the family will love. Belong’s Guest Chef series kicked off in August 2022 with Chef Kate McLean, Executive Chef and Partner at Tony’s, one of Houston’s most iconic fine dining establishments. Other Houston-area chefs including Chef José Arévalo of Brennan’s, Jonathan Levine of Jonathan’s the Rub, Marcia Smart of Smart in the Kitchen, Shipley’s Donuts, Raffi Nasr of Craft Pita and more have collaborated with Belong to make their amazing food available to Belong’s customers. The entire Belong team feels honored to have these Guest Chefs come up with fabulous menu items, visit the restaurant, train the team, and work side-by-side with our staff. “Belong was built to create dignified work for adults with intellectual and developmental differences”, says Kim Brown, founder and Executive Director of Belong Kitchen. “I cannot think of anything more dignified that having some of Houston’s most prominent and talented Chefs take time out of their busy schedules to create recipes for our non-profit Kitchen and work alongside our staff to train us on how to prepare these meals. We are blessed to be part of the Houston community and proud and honored to have such incredible Chefs prove that this is a place where we all belong.”
Bar Bludorn: February’s Guest Chef
February 5 Bar Bludorn NEW THIS MONTH! Our Guest Chef series continues with Chef Aaron Bludorn—executive chef and owner of the Montrose landmark eatery Bludorn and Chef Alexandra Pena— executive chef of the NEW Bar Bludorn opening in Memorial in March of 2024! Chef Bludorn was raised in the Pacific Northwest, trained in the Bay Area and New York and landed in Houston a few years ago. He and his wife, Victoria Pappas Bludorn and partner Cherif Mdboji have given our city a most fabulous, fun and high-quality dining experience in Bludorn and Navy Blue. This amazing team is venturing into the Memorial area for their new concept, Bar Bludorn featuring Executive Chef Alexandra Pena. Alexandra is a native Houstonian and alumna of the Culinary Institute Lenotre; she credits her Mexican grandmother for sparking her interest in food and cooking and teaching her to hone her tortilla and tamale-making skills. Our team was all smiles during Chef Aaron and Chef Alexandra’s visit to Belong. This month’s featured dish is Shepherd’s Pie! You don’t want to miss this special twist on a classic comfort dish. Ground beef blended with onions, carrots, peas, mushrooms, garlic and spices with red wine and Worcestershire is topped with fluffy mashed potatoes and delicious white cheddar and then browned to perfection. This is sure to be a hit at your dinner table! Don’t miss out. Belong side salads and yeast rolls will also be available. Join us every Wednesday in February for this amazing collaboration.
The CW 39: Houston Happens – Special Young Adults Find a Place They “Belong”, and more
Click HERE to see the video!
Fox 26 News: Belong Kitchen partners with Brennan’s of Houston with shrimp gumbo
https://www.fox26houston.com/video/1400371
Houston Chronicle Article: Belong Kitchen’s collaboration with Brennan’s of Houston adds shrimp gumbo to menu
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/belong-kitchen-meals-kits-brennan-s-of-houston-18526966.php
BRENNAN’S of Houston, Chef José Arévalo: January’s Guest Chef
Jan 3 BRENNAN’S of Houston Chef José Arévalo has worked in Brennan’s of Houston kitchen longer than any other employee—40 years! An electrician by trade, he arrived in the United States from El Salvador in 1982 and through his initial position as dishwasher, quickly learned the ropes by mastering every opportunity the kitchen provided. Today, Chef José opens and oversees the operations of the Brennan’s kitchen, making sure all things run smoothly during each shift. As a mainstay in the kitchen, José has also mentored some of Houston’s most successful chefs on today’s culinary scene. As of November 2022, the BELONG team was added to that list and cannot wait to prepare and offer you what they learned: Brennan’s signature Shrimp Gumbo and Pecan Pie to help celebrate and usher in the New Year! ___________________ CHEF CARL WALKER, General Manager Leaving his home state of Missouri to join the Marine Corp at age 17, Chef Carl quickly learned that cooking was his passion. He cooked for and served his fellow troops while simultaneously serving his country. His experience in the Marine Corp instilled confidence in his craft and motivated Carl to seriously pursue culinary arts. Upon graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, Carl began working for the famous New Orleans restaurateur Ella Brennan. Under her watchful eye, Carl progressed from sous chef at Mr. B’s Bistro to executive sous chef for Emeril Lagasse at nearby Commander’s Palace. As a result of those fruitful years of experience and absorbing a wealth of Creole knowledge, Chef Carl was named Executive Chef at Brennan’s of Houston in 1989. During his tenure as executive chef, Carl received a number of distinguished accolades. In 2003, Chef Carl assumed General Manager responsibilities at Brennan’s and continues serving as “a delightful role model in action, engenders unconditional loyalty to staff and patrons and ensures that every meal invokes a special memory.”
