Local Food Fest Hosted by Cafe Hope

Local Food Fest benefits Cafe Hope, a 501c3 nonprofit located in Marrero, LA. The festival features over 25 food booths featuring some of New Orleans finest restaurants, live music, a car/jeep show and children's activities. All proceeds benefit the students participating in the Cafe Hope life skills and culinary/hospitality training program.

This year Local Food Fest will be held June 10th, from 12 pm -7 pm. Musical entertainment will be provided by Burgers N Fries, Foret Tradition, and Lost Bayou Ramblers. In addition, there will be lots of children activities such as face painting, crafts, video game truck, and a petting zoo. Unlimited fun wristbands are $15 in advance and $20 day of the event. Westbank Macaroni Kid will be there with a fun craft for the kids.

Café Hope is a nonprofit culinary arts and life skills program serving opportunity youth ages 17 – 24 throughout New Orleans. As a faith-based organization rooted in its non-profit restaurant, Café Hope is committed to providing its students with the skills needed to succeed in New Orleans’ rapidly expanding culinary industry. The 16-week program is divided into three distinct portions: Seeds to Success, back of the house internship and front of the house internship.

In preparation for graduation, the Café Hope Team provides assistance with job placement and makes the workplace advocate matches. Their goal is to have every graduate employed within six weeks of graduation. To help remove the stress and add another level of support, Cafe Hope developed their Workplace Advocate program. Workplace Advocates are community volunteers who agree to mentor and support one graduate for a one year period. 

When students graduate from Café Hope, they are dedicated, enthusiastic and hopeful, but most importantly they leave prepared for the next step, for life’s next challenge. They are excited to enter the workplace and they have the skills to truly succeed.

Since Café Hope’s start in 2010, 250 students have completed the program, 72% of Café Hope graduates have been placed in permanent employment. Café Hope students boast a 98% pass rate on ServSafe certification. 

Cafe Hope students are working in some fantastic restaurants all around the city including:

The Besh Restaurant Group
Emeril’s Delmonico
The Ritz-Carlton
Canal Place Theaters
The Steamboat Natchez
Restaurant Des Familles
Raising Cane’s
Commanders Palace
Applebee’s
Ochsner Medical Center
Boomtown Casino
Hilton Riverside Hotel

I have had the pleasure of having lunch at Cafe Hope located at Timberlane Country Club and the food was delicious, and the service was great. Their Satsuma limeade is amazing and their BBQ Shrimp and grits are absolutely delicious. My friends say the burgers are awesome, too. Cafe Hope is open Tuesday through Sunday 10:30 am-3 pm. Café Hope’s nonprofit restaurant features locally-sourced, seed-to-table dishes made by Chef Joey LaBella and Café Hope’s student chefs, supports local farmers and uses fresh seafood from the Gulf of Mexico. As the only seed-to-table restaurant on New Orleans’ Westbank, Café Hope has created a 1.2-acre community garden that provides almost 60% of the produce that is used in the restaurant’s dishes each day. With support from Café Hope staff and volunteers, the garden continues to grow and provide the restaurant with high quality, healthy produce.