Camas restaurant offers gathering place, shores up revenues with corporate catering and classes
Restaurant goers won’t have trouble choosing a dinner entree at Around the Table in Camas.
That’s because there’s only one.
In fact, the new Camas-based business isn’t exactly a restaurant, it’s more of a culinary mission – spreading the gospel of good food and companionship.
"Originally, I called it a culinary studio," said Chef-Owner Karen Lasher of the idea she hatched more than two years ago. "I didn’t really want to have a traditional restaurant."
Opened for business Feb. 2, Around the Table serves high-end creations from Chef de Cuisine Christiane Smith, and has the look and feel of a bistro – complete with worn, red brick walls and high ceilings. A hostess dressed tastefully in black will see you to your table, or at least hand you your take-home meal, which she hopes you will share around your table with your family and friends.
"Our mission is to get people to gather around the table," said Amy McFall Prince, an associate with the restaurant.
In fact, McFall Prince cites the Slow Food Movement as inspiration. The movement can be described as a social activist organization dedicated since 1989 to fighting the fast food culture and the "age of acceleration" by bringing back the value of well-prepared meals shared by people in a mellow, community-minded setting.
Around the Table’s company philosophy describes it this way: "…Gathering around a table to share a meal with others is one of life’s great pleasures and an experience filled with great power."
Lasher spent $500,000 to open an elegant dining room and kitchen, but created no capacity to "turn tables" the way other eateries do.
A veteran chef and food service manager, she doesn’t think that’s important.
"I didn’t design it that way," she said. "It’s not a line kitchen."
Lasher admits that it is going to take a while for people to get into the idea, and said even her own father has trouble with the concept.
"Some people just don’t get it," she said. "They walk in the door and want to look at a menu, and some of them walk out shaking their heads."
No matter. Lasher plans to stay in business by other than traditional means. Along with the nightly single choice take home entrée, Around the Table hosts "dinner gatherings" on Friday and Saturday nights, where patrons pay $35 to join others for a four-course meal at a large family table setting. Again, Smith picks the meal.
The restaurant is open for lunch as well, and this is where it gets dangerously close to appearing like a normal restaurant; a selection of lunch specials – from pasta dishes to chili to gourmet sandwiches are offered to the Camas lunch set, but the items change daily and are up to the whim of the chef.
Patrons come in for breakfast also, but can expect nothing more than coffee, tea and fresh baked pastries. Again, the idea is to gather and to feel community.
"It sort of shaves away the uppityness of some restaurants and lets our customers know that we are just people," said McFall Prince. "We hope that our customers will recognize that it all stems from our love of food and for preparing food."
Separate from the food service element, Around the Table offers cooking classes, rents its commercial kitchen to the community and offers kids’ cooking events, where Smith, Lasher and McFall Prince share their love of cooking.
"We want to be a resource for people," said McFall Prince. "We want people to come in and use our space to talk about food and cooking and to get recipe ideas and share their knowledge."
McFall Prince said many women have trouble preparing quality meals for their families, and that Around the Table wants to help change that, and inspire people to turn to their kitchens, rather than the take-out menu.
To help keep the enterprise in the black, Lasher also offers corporate catering services, and rents the restaurant out to private parties. Also, she said she would love to host some community cooking competitions, ala the cooking show Iron Chef America, where warrior cooks battle it out to create the best dish while under the gun.
"It would really be a lot of fun to see that here," she said.
