The Reformed Church of Highland Park (RCHP) has been a leading congregation in New Jersey on matters regarding immigration, asylum and refugee status. This work is paying dividends in terms of delicious global cuisine in the form of the Global Grace Café.
RCHP launched the Global Grace Café just a few weeks ago on April 18, 2016, but the idea for Global Grace was in the works for many years. “On a Sunday morning at RCHP there are 45 countries represented through first generation immigrants,” said Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale, who leads the RCHP congregation. “We have enjoyed many years of increasingly delicious potluck dinners as our church has diversified, and we realized that the representatives from the global community in our church community could be brought together to create a restaurant-style ministry.”
Global Grace Cafe has identified chefs who are excellent cooks, who represent a wide array of culinary expertise, and who also feel good about highlighting food from their homelands. Many of the chefs arrived here as refugees or asylum seekers.
Each day there are a variety of entrees on the menu with a focus on a particular country or region. Monday is Indian, Tuesday Syrian, Wednesday Guyanese, Thursday Jamaican, Friday Idonesian/Chinese. In addition, Global Grace features a Vegan soup prepared by chefs from Sierra Leone or the Congo, as well as a salad
The cost of an entree is $5, salad is $3 and soup is $2. Come as early as 9:30am for coffee, pastries and good wi-fi! Dining is in the church Quilt Room, which is air conditioned and comfortable throughout the summer. Global Grace also delivers locally, within town, so feel free to call the church at 732-249-7349 to request delivery!
Global Grace Cafe is managed by Emily Randall-Goodwin, a recent Rutgers graduate. But more pertinently, she also is a graduate from Johnson and Whales Culinary School.
Global Grace Cafe is a ministry of the Reformed Church of Highland Park. It exists to raise funds to support Refugee Resettlement, to create small jobs and job training opportunities for recent arrivals to this country, and to raise positive awareness about refugee resettlement in New Jersey.
Will the cafe be a success? According to Rev. Kaper-Dale, the answer is a resounding ‘yes.’ “We hope and pray that this cafe is a financially sustainable cafe, but the positive energy it is creating in our town and region, and the way that it is building up refugees and asylum seekers means that it is a already a success. It’s also bringing in enough revenue to assist many of the families who have recently arrived here in small ways. Take a bite, you’ll agreed that the food is delicious. Come and eat here with us and bring friends.”
The Cafe is open from 9:30 a.m. -11:30 a.m. with pastries and coffee (pastries prepared by local chef Joey Oriti). Full lunch services runs from 11:30 a.m. -2 p.m. Global Grace also runs Catering for a Cause and is able to provide global cuisine for parties and gatherings. Global Grace Cafe at RCHP is located at 19-21 South Second Avenue, Highland Park, NJ, 08904; 732-249-7349.