This came across my desk Yup it is an old story but still rings true. I am a big believer of what the Bongiovi's are doing in their community and support the endevor. Yup waiting for spring before I head out there Connecticut is a bit of a drive and well it IS winter in New England. Looking forward to it.

Bongiovi finds spot for Soul Kitchen
March 3, 2011 By triCityNews

RED BANK - Now this is the type of stuff that Hip City should be celebrating.

Dorothea Bongiovi - along with her partner in restaurant adventure Zeet Peabody - just made a big step forward in a Red Bank story we first reported about last year.

They've found a permanent space for the JBJ Soul Kitchen. Dorothea told us a lease has been signed for a building on Monmouth Street between Shrewsbury Avenue and the train station. An application is in the process of being filed with the Borough for a restaurant seating 26-30 in this approximately 1050 square foot space.

The Soul Kitchen will allow anyone to enjoy a meal. Suggested donation will be $10 per person. Customers who cannot afford to pay will have an opportunity to work at the restaurant. Thus everyone at the Soul Kitchen will be treated equally - because everyone there knows that they provided for themselves.

It's a great and empowering concept. And Bongiovi has a vision even beyond that.

She also sees the Soul Kitchen as a job training and community center. And there will be an organic garden providing food for the restaurant on the sizable empty space in front of the building, which was a three-bay auto-repair garage. It's a pretty ugly spot right now. A large organic garden would be excellent community beautification.

The vision gets even bigger. What Bongiovi wants to build in Red Bank will be a template for community activists to open JBJ Soul Kitchens around the country and abroad. The interest is out there. Dorothea said inquiries were received from all over after her husband Jon Bon Jovi mentioned the Soul Kitchen on appearances with Ellen DeGeneres and Larry King.

This is also where Zeet Peabody comes in. Zeet was the owner and chef of the renowned Bistro Zeeto in Atlantic Highlands. He then became a personal chef and restaurant consultant. He is the consultant advising Dorothea on this project. The two have worked together for years.

It's an excellent collaboration. The two have held Soul Kitchen Sunday Suppers for the past two years, first at Saint Anthony's Church and then at Lunch Break, both in Red Bank. It was the same concept for people to pay or come back later and work. They've served approximately 2,000 meals so far.

When we reported on the Soul Kitchen at Lunch Break in December, many volunteers were helping out. Dorothea herself worked the door, while her father-in-law - Mr. B, as she calls him - was in the kitchen and her daughter was waiting tables. Apparently, when husband Jon attended the previous time he helped with dishes.

So now Bongiovi and Peabody are ready for their next step after two years of practice. After municipal approvals are received, the Soul Kitchen will become a full service restaurant open four days a week for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch. Dorothea would like to see it expanded to five days a week once it gets going.

"I still feel very strongly about this project", Bongiovi said. "People need to feel they have a place to go. A place where people ask how you are. It's all about fellowship, and it's empowering for people to know they've earned their meal just like everyone else".

A few other interesting points about this story:

First, we like the potential for Red Bank itself. The restaurant with its progressive concepts will bring excellent publicity to the town. It will help in the transformation that we seek for Red Bank into a much more broad-minded and alternative place.

Many up in Red Bank's business community are looking in admiration at our increasingly vibrant Asbury Park. The triCitNews was a major part of that transformation. We can tell you it was accomplished by attracting and valuing people and things that are non-conformist and different then that rest of suburban Monmouth County.

In that regard, Red Bank has all the elements in place to be an equal partner with Asbury Park in transforming the triCity region of Monmouth County into a suburban area like no other. A place where the arts, culture and broad-minded thought are ascendant.

TriCity has long cited Red Bank's cultural assets - the Count Basie, the Two River Theater and the Clearview art house movie theater - as examples of what Hip City offers. More importantly, Red Bank also has a surprisingly large population of artistic and progressive people up there.

The JBJ Soul Kitchen fits right into all that. Imagine if Dorothea and Zeet not only make it a local success, but meet the goal of exporting the concept all over. The result would likely mean Red Bank would be the headquarters of the effort. That's great stuff. This is how you build a great little city, and region.

Those from all over the country, and world, would visit Red Bank for information and/or training on the JBJ Soul Kitchen program. Same with journalists who'd come to write about it.

All would be exposed to what Red Bank - and the area - have to offer. That's the type of stuff that's so important. That's house you leverage the strength of our progressive and creative people - like Dorothea Bongiovi, her husband Jon and Zeet Peabody - into transforming Red Bank and the region. Even better, in this case it involves a project with tons of potential to do tons of good. Now the other point about all this: Dorothea and Zeet need to make the Soul Kitchen a successful enterprise. It must break even.

Look, everyone knows that Dorothea and Jon could write the check for this place to subsidize it forever. But that's not the point. The idea here is to prove it can be a self-sustaining non-profit so it can be replicated elsewhere.

That's why Dorothea said Zeet will be looking for donations, or dramatically reduced prices, of kitchen equipment in excellent or good condition. Same with contractors and others who can donate their services.

It's important to remember here that Dorothea and Jon have donated and raised large sums for social service organizations all over the country to help provide the basics of food, housing and medical care for those in need. They'll no doubt continue to do so. Locally, they've supported the Monmouth County Food Bank and Red Bank's Lunch Break, among many other groups.

The Soul Kitchen serves a different type of need. It's to allow people who have the ability to work to have a nice meal at a restaurant, regardless of their current economic situation. That's about empowerment and pride. And the fellowship among all the customers benefits everyone in many ways.

And those who choose to work at the Soul Kitchen can potentially learn job skills in the kitchen (or perhaps the organic garden). That's certainly of value in the worst economy since the Great Depression.

Anyone who wants to get involved with the Soul Kitchen can best reach them via email at info@jbjsoulfoundation.org. The plan is to continue the afternoon Sunday meals (seatings at 1pm and 2pm) at Lunch Break in Red Bank through March. Call 732-747-8577 if you'd like to attend one. Bongiovi is hopeful that work on the new site can begin in April if the municipal approvals are received in time. She and Peabody will then be concentrating on that.

Back in December when we interviewed Dorothea, it was clear she wanted the permanent location for the Soul Kitchen in Red Bank. Now she found one.

"It's the community I know the best", she told us. "Red Bank has the balance we need for this project between people who can sustain it and people in need."
Related Stories: Press, News