SCNTR to host first ‘Chef and a Show’
Published 5:50 pm Friday, July 26, 2019
This Sunday, The Local Restaurant Cooperative will host its first in what the center hopes to be a series of “Rotating Chef and a Show” events at The Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth and Reconciliation (SCNTR).
“This our pilot event,” said SCNTR Senior Community Organizer Brendan O’Connor who is also a co-founder of the Local Restaurant Cooperative. “We’re going to do it once a month for the next three months. The idea is to get a mix of chefs and entertainment and kind of create community-based entertainment.”
Depending upon the success of the first three months, the SCNTR hopes to establish a monthly event where food and entertainment from across the globe can be shared.
According to O’Connor, each “Chef and a Show” will feature the cuisine of a local chef accompanied by a television show, film or music that the chef is interested in.
“It’s a mashup of a food event and a social event,” he added.
Sunday’s Chef will be “Mama” Callie Greer of Mother and Men Against all Violence in Solidarity (MAAVIS).
Greer, who also serves as a senior community organizer with the SCNTR, will serve a menu featuring comfort food dishes inspired by members of her family.
Greer says Sunday’s menu will include her husband’s slow smoked barbeque ribs and jalapeno cornbread, her uncle’s macaroni and cheese and her mother’s peach cobbler and lemon cake.
Greer added that the meal will feature options for vegetarians, vegans and pescetarians.
“We plan on having a very tasty meal and a very pleasant time,” said Greer.
AS for the “Show” portion of the first ‘Chef and a Show”, Greer selected the dramatic television series “Queen Sugar” created by Ava DuVernay, the director of 2014’s “Selma”.
The show, now in its fourth season on the Oprah Winfrey Network, tells the story of the estranged Bordelon siblings in south Louisiana.
Greer chose “Queen Sugar” to accompany her meal because of its subject matter and its relatability.
“On television it good to see people that look like you going through the same things you go through and holding up,” she said. “You can see a lot of truth and identify with the situations within it.”
The SCNTR’s first “Chef and a Show” will take place Sunday night at 5:30 p.m. There is a $15 recommended donation to attend. Due to the limited space and food, only the first 40-50 people can be accommodated. Donations can be made in advanced online through the group’s Facebook page.