In the CHAVAL Kitchen with Jack Cunningham, Plantin & Saute Chef; Damian Sansonetti, Chef and Husband of Ilma Lopez; and Aaron Geller, Sous Chef. This Afternoon, at 58 Pine Street.
Ilma Lopex, Stands in front of Her French & Spanish Inspired Brasserie CHAVAL 58 pINe Street, on the Wesst End of Portland. She Has Twice Been a Nominee for James Beard’s Best Pastry Chef in the Recent Past.
The Mobile Free Pantry is Now Located in the Parking Lot of CHAVAL, 58 Pine Street, on the West End of Portland Until Monday September 4, 2023.
“We have not had the Free Pantry in our parking lot long enough to develop a strategy that will keep it fully stocked by the community,” said Ilma Lopez, owner of CHAVAL, on the west end of Portland this afternoon. The Free Pantry had been scheduled to relocate to an unconfirmed site on Friday, August 18. But those plans have been scrapped for now.
Neighbors of the 58 Pine Street restaurant have been asking Ms. Lopez how they can help keep the Free Pantry stocked for those in need. She asks these neighbors to check on the supplies as often they can because non-perishables are needed constantly in the form of canned foods. Persoal hygene items, clothing, diapers and baby food are on that needed list as well. The city’s Public Health Department keeps it stocked with narcan.
Take what you need and leave what you can is the spirit behind the Free Pantry.
In an August 12, 2023 post on this blog Ms. Lopez said that her future plans include providing cooking classes for members of the public who would then make those dishes available in the Free Pantry. She said that there has been a lot of interest in those cooking classes at CHAVAL. But she urged those interested to check back with her in the fall. “Our plans are not yet fully developed,” she said as we sat in one of the window tables at CHAVAL, 58 Pine Street, this afternoon.
But, the delilghtful aroma of food preparation coming from the kitchen behind our seats ended our conversation. Finding the source of that irresistible aroma became more important than discussing plans for the Free Pantry for this blogger..
Sous Chef Aaron Geller had just completed making five different sauces for the Spanish & French inspired dishes on the menu this evening. One of those five sauces was for the Coq Au Vin one of the most popular dishes at CHAVAL accordig to Ms. Lopez. Another extremely poular dish on the menu requiring a sauce is The Shrooms – a dish made with slow poached farm eggs. Geller had also just finished a horseradish creme sauce.
Geller who has been with CHAVAl for the last 9 months was plucked from the kitchen of SCALES, the seafood restaurant on the Portland waterfront. “I wanted to work with a different kind of cooking. It’s totally different working at CHAVAL because the scale is much smaller here,” he said. Geller who wss once in graduate school working on his maser’s degree in architecture in Bozeman, Montana, decided to pursue his real passion – cooking. “I’m here because Ilma and Damian are the two best chefs I’ve ever worked for. They have a plethora of experience and talent.”
How lucky for the Free Pantry!
For more background information on the Free Pantry, please visit post herein dated August 12, 2023.