houston, we have a problem...

ok. so, it appears that our location for the renegade lunch scheduled for tomorrow has flamed out due to administrative/logistical challenges on their end. boo! we're already busily working on a replacement site for early in march, which will have us busting out two lunches in the same month. i am happy to say that our second march location and our april location are guaranteed already, so there should be no further difficulties. anyway, we'll let you know how this whole thing pans out and see you for lunch before too long.

oh, and by the way...

here's a swell overhead shot of the january renegade lunch at the galleria, courtesy of the lovely and talented jess andjeski, event planner extraordinaire for spice of life catering co.

we're on fire now...

hello children. uncle greg here. sorry we haven't posted anything in awhile, but i've been out of town since the day after our last lunch at the galleria. we threw down a tasty lunch for 24 of our newest friends and, in the process, raised enough money for the cleveland foodbank to supply 800 meals. awesome! that said, we've already got locations around town for february, march, and april and are starting to work on summer ideas. february's lunch is going to happen on wednesday the 25th and, as promised, we'll drop the location on the morning of here and on our facebook page.

incidentally, a big part of cooking is not being afraid to play with fire. ben, as you can see above, is pretty comfortable with the concept. who wouldn't want this guy to cook him/her lunch?

today is the day...

galleria at erieview. 12 o'clock noon.

beer-cheese soup with crouton and chive.

house-made matzoh.

open-faced sauerbraten samich.

warm german potato salad.

braised red cabbage.

see you there, cats and kittens.

...here we come.

it's officially on. tuesday. january 27. location to be announced.

a little help from our friends...

from last wednesday's cleveland scene, courtesy of mr. douglas trattner:

Don't be surprised if, in the coming weeks and months, you stumble across an unexpected gourmet luncheon, complete with china, glass and linen, in the lobby of the Terminal Tower. Or smack dab in the middle of Public Square. Or perched atop a HealthLine station. "The weirder the better," says Greg MacLaren, chef of Marigold Catering (216.566.5400) and co-conspirator of the nascent Renegade Lunch Project. A cross between performance art and community outreach (with a soupicon of PR), these first-come, first-served plated lunches are designed to bring people together in a deliciously spontaneous way. And while not required to pay a cent, diners will be asked to contribute at meal's end to a charity or cause. "A few weeks back, I had this crazy idea," explains MacLaren. "What if Ben [Bebenroth, of Spice of Life catering] and I started doing random, free, plated lunches around town? Cleveland needs more interesting and strange things happening." Recently, a dry run was held at the Marigold Catering kitchens, both to test the waters and to enlist partners who might assist with the logistics of pulling off such feats. One of those in attendance was Greg Peckham, executive director of Cleveland Public Art. "This concept totally appeals to me," Peckham says. "In the same way our organization attempts to bring people together through desirable public spaces, they are trying to activate public spaces by bringing people together with food." Regardless of the location, the two-course meals will be prepared on the spot by MacLaren and Bebenroth, whose easygoing chemistry encourages conversation among participants. "These events foster interaction between people who may never have occasion to meet," adds Peckham. "It was a moment of brightness in the day. And the food was spectacular." To keep the monthly events as spontaneous as possible, dates and locations will be released last minute.

pretty awesome mention...and as it happens, i think you'll be seeing one early next week. yay!

help!!!

hey everybody!!! we're trying to line up lunches for january, february, and march and we need some locations, ideas, or suggestions of people we can contact to get us lined up somewhere. we're ready to roll, so help us get this show on the road!