The owner and staff of Mimi’s Italian Grill in downtown Kelowna have always wanted to do something positive for their community.
And after doing some brainstorming, the idea they come up will come to fruition tonight.
The restaurant will be serving a free Italian meal to 35 people, made up of caseworkers from the Kelowna Gospel Mission and their clients.
“We wanted to do some kind of free community dinner but we’re not sure how to go about it,” said Toria Andersen, marketing manager for the restaurant.
“The Gospel Mission makes a big difference in our community and we wanted to do something to recognize that.”
The acknowledgment dinner recipients will sit down for a meal at 5:30 p.m. tonight at the Bernard Avenue eatery to a three-course meal.
The menu will consists of tomato soup or Caesar salad to start, two of Mimi’s classic appetizers. The first course will be followed by a traditional Italian dish of chicken parmesan handmade by Mimi’s head chef.
The dish will be served with penne pasta in the house specialty marinara sauce.
To top the meal off, guests will receive an olive oil chocolate cake with butter cream frosting for dessert.
Andersen said the evening will be one of happy holiday spirit and great food, acknowledging the efforts taken of these KGM clients to overcome obstacles in their lives.
She said some of the clients will be from the women’s transitional and support program.
Andersen said they hope Mimi’s example will be taken to heart by other downtown businesses, who might seek their own way to reach out to their community. “We’re trying to help the Kelowna community as well as help ourselves, by generating some positive publicity” Andersen said.
