By Tracey Breashears Schultz, Bishop’s Associate for Leadership
Kinnon Falk, director of Kindred Kitchen, caters Theology on Tap, hosted by Kindred.
Jesus fed over 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. Afterwards, there was an abundance of leftovers (John 6:1-14). On the night of his betrayal, Jesus could be found at a table, sharing The Last Supper with his disciples (Luke 22:1-23). The early church gathered around sacred stories, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayers (Acts 2:42-47). The Bible is full of references to meals, so it is no wonder why Holy Communion is central to our worship life. Kindred Kitchen places food at the heart of its mission, too. Not surprisingly, the meals served from this place will have the power to change lives.
Kinnon Falk has over ten years of nonprofit and food prep experience. He has worked in fundraising positions for foster care and homeless service agencies. He also has experience in catering and restaurant kitchens. Kinnon has always had a passion for cooking for large groups of people. I spoke with him this month about the initial ideas for Kindred Kitchen and the changes and adaptations that have brought it to reality.
When Kinnon and his wife, Allison, first moved to Houston from Austin (2013), he thought about opening a food truck, but the food regulations were much stricter in Houston than they had been in Austin, and the dream never made it off the ground. (Had he done it, though, he would have offered “crazy fusion,” like Korean tacos and pho-gumbo!)
Kindred Kitchen opens Summer 2022
Shortly after Kinnon and Allison moved to Houston, Kindred, formerly Grace Lutheran in Montrose, now seven years ago, was in its initial phases of re-starting as a Dinner Church. Kinnon was intrigued by this worship community for which feeding people would be central, and he wanted not just to attend but to offer leadership. (He has served on the Leadership Table since its inception.)
While getting a sense of Kindred, Kinnon also came to learn about Montrose Grace Place, another ministry where the table has a central place. The mission of Montrose Grace Place (MGP) is to provide a safe, welcoming environment for vulnerable homeless youth of all sexualities and genders, providing nourishment, healthy relationships, and hope for the future. On Monday and Thursday evenings, hosted at Kindred, MGP offers youth a hot meal, mentoring, skills-building, and direct accesses to resources. Food is served family-style, emphasizing the message that all have a place at the table.
Some time in 2018, both Kindred and MGP, in the restaurant-dense neighborhood of Montrose, began to wonder about expanding their food ministries, collaborating about who they could feed and what they could serve together. Those who shared a similar dream – those who work with the housing insecure, restauranteurs, those providing housing services, the director of MGP (Courtney), and Kindred (Kinnon) – met to ponder and create. Their initial idea was to offer a café, using Kindred as the “restaurant,” but the quotes they received for bringing the space to code and creating a commercial kitchen resulted in “sticker shock.” Serendipitously, a former board member of MGP, around this same time, offered their trailer and food truck, used by their restaurant in Floresville, TX, at a deep discount. The whole team was excited about what could come from this, and bringing the food truck to code and giving it a new look and logo became Kinnon’s project.
Kindred Kitchen plans to launch this summer, but it’s more now than a café or a restaurant. Kinnon and Courtney had learned about a culinary training model for vulnerable populations that combines hands-on training with wrap-around stabilizing social services. For youth, these programs help overcome employment barriers for those who are housing insecure or in poverty. In 2018, they attended a Youth Summit training by Catalyst Kitchens (formerly part of FareStart in Seattle), which helped them learn more about such programs and how to imagine such a program in Montrose, and Kindred Kitchen was born.
Kinnon proudly shared that grants from ELCA World Hunger, Huffington Foundation, and Houston Methodist, for which he applied, have allowed them to update the food truck, fund startup costs, and hire a part-time case manager (through MGP). She is going to trainings and getting together a resource guide for the pilot class. Courses will be 12 to 16-weeks long, and afterwards, trainees will have opportunity to connect with chefs in the local area, securing employment and stability. (You might think, as I did, that classes will be about cooking and culinary arts, and there will be some of that, but Kinnon shared that chefs looking to hire for their high-end kitchens routinely look for employees who are reliable, who come to work on time, and who show up with a good attitude, so the Kindred Kitchen will include these soft skills on the curriculum.) A chef will soon be added to the staff. Their first events will probably be catering opportunities for church communities, and then they will open more fully to the public.
And, by the way, a builder from Houston found Kindred Kitchen online and called Kinnon to learn more. At the end of their conversation, he offered his services for a commercial kitchen at Kindred, and the price is right this time.
All God’s people deserve to be fed and nourished, and Kindred Kitchen is ready to serve.