St. Anthony Dining Room welcomes back Chef Jason, who has recently returned to take over as our Executive Chef. Jason is originally from Hawaii, and has 20 years of culinary experience. He’s the owner of Locavore, a restaurant focused on a fresh, locally-sourced menu. He hopes to bring a similar style of community-centered cooking to St. Anthony’s.

We asked him a few questions to get to know him a little better:

What’s your favorite dish to cook at home? Enchiladas.

What’s your guilty pleasure? Lots of ice cream.

What dish is surprisingly easy to make? Any kind of soup.

In your experience at St. Anthony’s, what’s the most popular menu item? Baked bone-in chicken!

Have there been any interesting moments while working here? It’s not really a moment, but my friends are always surprised at how many St. Anthony’s guests I know and say “Hello” to while walking around the city.

What’s different about cooking for St. Anthony’s guests? They’re not afraid to compliment–or give pointers to–the chef.

The Dining Room staff says your chocolate chip cookies are the best. Are they just buttering you up for more? Nope. They are the best!

Many thanks to Jason and our talented chefs, Kevin, Lien and Luis, for keeping us all coming back for seconds.

The following are the reflections of Robin Polastri, shared as she stepped down from the Board of St. Anthony Foundation.

In the Footsteps of St. Francis

Fear and doubt are strange emotions. They can stop us in our tracks from taking an unfamiliar step; from heeding our heart’s desire; from venturing forth with courage and confidence; from falling with abandon into the reliable arms of the One who created All.

St. Francis, upon his conversion, must have experienced some pricklings of both fear and doubt as he turned away from the privileged, unexamined life he had known, eyes opened by the inanities and cruelties of war and by the graceless poverty and suffering God revealed to him.

And yet, Francis stood humbly before Sultan and Pope, filled with the Power that comes from the One, and the world turned as a result. Francis of The Leper, Francis of the Begging Bowl, Francis of the Re-Turn to the Rightness of Creation.

This is what has inspired me over the 22 years I have been associated with the St. Anthony Foundation. I arrived at St. Anthony’s Dining Room in September of ‘89 full of fear and doubt, and thus began the shifting of my world view. (more…)

Supervisor Jane Kim and her staff volunteered in St. Anthony’s Dining Room recently.  Supervisor Kim served guests and had an opportunity to talk with folks about issues that concern them.  Some of the staff had a tour of St. Anthony’s Foundation and had a chance to see the architect’s model for the new St. Anthony’ Dining Room.

Say you wanted to find a restaurant that served enough hot dogs at lunchtime to stack higher than the Sierras. Or a place that sold enough baked beans to feed an elephant for a day. (That is, if elephants ate baked beans). Of all the restaurants, food trucks, and tucked away eateries in San Francisco, you probably couldn’t find one.

For that, you’d have to come to St. Anthony’s Dining Room—on Memorial Day.

On May 30^th, St. Anthony’s Dining Room served a record number of entrées. 16,000 hot dogs, 450 pounds of baked beans, and a line that stretched around the block, and then another block, all the way east past the corner of Leavenworth and McAllister.

During our Senior and Family hour, from 10:15 to 11:15 am, each guest was given a tray with three hot dogs, a scoop of baked beans and all the usual sides (salad, bread, fruit, dessert, and punch). After 11:15, all guests were given a tray with 2 hot dogs, beans, sides, and a to-go box with an extra serving of hot dogs and baked beans. When the doors closed at 1:35, guests had been served 3,635 trays plus 1,800 to-go boxes for a grand total of 5,445 entrée servings. (more…)

Fr. Floyd Lotito would often say St. Anthony’s Dining Room was a social barometer that signaled larger changes in our city. Although we do not receive government funding, we feel the impact of related cuts to crucial services in our city. The number of meals served in St. Anthony’s Dining Room spiked a whopping 9% in March 2011 compared to March 2010. On the busiest day in March, we served a total of 3415 meals, up 200 meals from the year before. (Click here to read our Executive Director Shari Roeseler’s moving OpEd article published in the San Francisco Chronicle on May 4th) As San Francisco prepares to close a $380 budget gap, we are braced to see our numbers continue to rise. We invite you, our faithful volunteers and donors, to be a part of the solution. Come down and volunteer a day in the Dining Room or post a message in the comment box letting other readers, community members, and lawmakers know why it’s so important for San Francisco to maintain a critical safety net for our most vulnerable citizens.

SF Giants Inspire Community Support by Serving Monumental Meal

As area nonprofits brace for continued budget cuts and a potential housing setback for veterans, St. Anthony Foundation prepares to serve its 37 millionth meal. Between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 12, St. Anthony’s will ‘momentarily pause’ the usual service to honor the significant moment with San Francisco Giants players, celebrating a ‘giant’ contribution to the community.

St. Anthony’s has provided unwavering support for the hungry and homeless for 60 years. Advancing upon this milestone, community support is what’s celebrated because it is that which has made possible these years of service. At the same time, the organization is also humbled by the prospect for increasing need.

“Out of approximately 2600 daily meals we provide, nearly one quarter of them are to veterans,” said Shari Roeseler, Executive Director for St. Anthony’s. “As we approach this significant milestone, we’re also planning for what could result from reduced veteran housing vouchers and government funding for other pillar San Francisco organizations. Because we’re privately supported, we often pick up where others are limited, so community building is even more critical for St. Anthony’s at this time.”

Veteran’s services are nothing new to St. Anthony’s. In 1950, the Foundation was established to provide support in an economy still recovering from World War II. Today, with veterans returning home from recent unrest, the road to re-entry is more challenging as benefits are reduced and the need for services has become more pronounced.

According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, two trends are largely responsible for the continued rise in homelessness:  A growing shortage of affordable rental housing and simultaneous increase in poverty. Our current ongoing recession, compounded with a lack of veteran’s housing vouchers will most certainly impact our nonprofit infrastructure.

“As we honor our 37 millionth meal and our 60th anniversary this fall, we continue to look ahead and prepare for an increase in the need for our services.  With the help of the community, St. Anthony’s will serve our 40 millionth meal in our new Dining Room, which we hope will open in 2014,” said Roeseler.

In case you did not get a chance to see it, check out the article published in today’s SF Chronicle and SF Gate announcing the green light from the San Francisco Planning Commission to move forward with our 121 building in partnership with Mercy Housing.

What’s cooking this week at St. Anthony Dining Room!

Monday, February 21st – Presidential Pie
A casserole made of a layer of red beans, ground beef, topped with mashed potatoes.

Tuesday, February 22nd – Mac and Cheese

Tuesday, February 23rd – Chili con Carne
Beef simmered in chili sauce with pinto beans

Thursday, February 24th – Chicken, Orzo and Feta
Seasoned with oregano, lemon, and mint

Friday, February 25th – Ham Hash
A hash made with ham, potatoes and vegetables

Saturday, February 26th – Turkey and Corn Chowder
A Boston favorite. Turkey simmered with corn, peppers & potato

Sunday, February 27th – Chef’s choice
St. Anthony’s Dining Room turns Iron Chef as we churn out dishes made from seasonal ingredients.

Check back for weekly installments of On The Menu!

What’s cooking this week at St. Anthony Dining Room!

Monday, February 14th – Cupid’s Coq Au Vin
Chicken marinated in red wine and spices simmered to perfection. A lover’s delight. (No Alcohol)

Tuesday, February 15th – Gumbo
Zesty turkey and sausage stew served over rice. The Flavor of New Orleans

Tuesday, February 16th – Hoisin Chicken with Rice
Chicken simmered in a delicious Chinese plum sauce

Thursday, February 17th – Vegetable Lasagna
Delicious layers of tomato sauce, pasta, vegetables and cheese baked to perfection.

Friday, February 18th – Chef’s choice
St. Anthony’s Dining Room turns Iron Chef as we churn out dishes made from seasonal ingredients.

Saturday, February 19th – Chicken Mole
Diced chicken simmered in a tomato sauce with chocolate and ground nuts

Sunday, February 20th – Chicken and Veggie Risotto
Chicken and vegetables cooked with creamy risotto

Check back for weekly installments of On The Menu!