FOOD

At the Unless U Scoops grand opening last week were, from left, Ford Balogh, Paula Heath, Marye Grace Browning, Lindy Cleveland, Meredith Binkley and Hannah Bishop. Below, Rene Alderson and Susan Rutledge enjoy an ice cream treat after the ribbon cutting ceremony.

GOOD SCOOP

Unless U Scoops Support Adults With Special Needs While Scooping Up Ice Cream

By Emily Williams-RoBERtshaW

Unless U opened an ice cream shop on its campus Aug. 6 staffed by and serving its special needs students.

Unless U Scoops, with its wallpaper decorated using student drawings of whimsical ice cream in cones, bows and sundaes, serves Big Spoon Creamery products to the public at Unless U’s campus in Vestavia Hills.

“Unless U Scoops is an ice cream shop where students will have the opportunity to

receive job training, and we will be selling ice cream to the public,” founder and Executive Director Lindy Cleveland said, in a video celebrating the new shop. “We also wanted to create a space where the students would be employed, because we know that jobs provide purpose and we wanted to create the opportunity for our students to wake up and feel purposeful every day.”

A 2013 study commissioned by the Special Olympics and conducted by the Center for Social Development and Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston found that only 44% of working-age adults with intellectual disabilities are in the labor force, with 21% unemployed and 28% having never held a job.

While Unless U has been offering academic, social, physical and spiritual programming to support students’ independence, the ice cream shop gives students vocational support.

Students began receiving their food handler certificates from the Jefferson County Department of Health in late July.

“It’s so much bigger than ice cream,” Unless U Scoops Manager Meredith Binkley said, in a released statement. “It’s watching our students gain confidence and pride in themselves as they learn a new skill and excel. It’s fostering an environment of inclusivity and understanding as we welcome those who may have never had the privilege of working with those like our students before. It’s learning to love others who are different than you and showing Jesus to every person who walks through those doors.”

After breaking ground on the Unless U Campus in 2018, the organization announced that the facility would include an ice cream shop about a year later.

According to a release, the idea for the shop was inspired by Cleveland’s older brother, Jordan Williamson, and his experiences living with Down syndrome.

Cleveland’s first choice for a partner was Big Spoon Creamery because of the quality of their product and the way their missions in the community align.

“Everything Unless U does aligns so well with what we value as a company,” said Ryan O’Hara, owner of Big Spoon Creamery along with his wife, Gerri-Martha O’Hara.

The couple started Big Spoon in 2014 serving artisanal, small-batch ice cream out of an ice cream trike. They set out to use ice cream as a vehicle to make positive change in the community.

Before meeting Cleveland, the couple had little knowledge about Unless U, O’Hara said, “but it was something I knew we had to be a part of as soon as she pitched the idea.”

The idea for Unless U Scoops sounded similar to a national coffee company with which O’Hara was familiar, Biddy & Beau’s Coffee.

Biddy & Beau’s was established in 2016 in Wilmington, North Carolina, by Amy Wright,

‘It’s so much bigger than ice cream. It’s watching our students gain confidence and pride in themselves as they learn a new skill and excel.’

UNLESS U SCOOPS MANAGER MEREDITH BINKLEY

FOODIE NEWS

Caterer Opens Cafe in Homewood

This month, Sorelle Catering owner and chef Joy Smith has a lot on her plate.

Smith will be opening the company’s first storefront, Sorelle Cafe, in the coming weeks in the heart of Homewood’s business district, at 903 Broadway St.

She teamed up with Daniel Roy, a veteran chef whose resume includes Galley & Garden, to serve as Sorelle’s executive sous chef.

“My dream for Sorelle Cafe is to become a neighborhood staple — a place where people feel like they’re walking into a friend’s home, and a place where kids will recall coming to eat after they grow up,” Smith said.

The cafe will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and will feature a mix of Sorelle Catering dishes as well as new offerings.

Sorelle’s acclaimed cheesecake will be sold by the slice along with pre-prepared dishes such as pork tenderloin with mustard sage sauce and grilled ginger lime chicken at a grab-and-go cafe and pie counter.

Once in operation, the cafe will be open Mondays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Melt to Open New Location at Lane Parke in 2022

Birmingham-based restaurant Melt will open its fourth location, at Lane Parke, in 2022, Crawford Square Real Estate Advisors announced in late July.

According to a release, what drew founders Paget Pizitz and Harriet Reis to open a location in Lane Parke was the atmosphere. Reis is a Mountain Brook resident and said she is thrilled to be bringing their business to her community.

Melt Avondale, which started as a food truck, has been open since 2012 with two franchised locations, in Hoover and Huntsville.

The menu features artisan grilled sandwiches, burgers and salads and serves vegetarian, veganfriendly and gluten-free options.

While much of the menu at the new location will remain the same, there will be some additions created specifically for the area.

“It’s been a big year for Lane Parke, and we’re happy to welcome Melt as a new tenant in our Phase II addition,” said Sam Heide, CEO of Crawford Square Real Estate Advisors. “We’ve been diligent about seeking out tenants who are a great fit for the area, and this announcement is one of many exciting new things coming to Lane Parke in the near future.”

Melt will be joining new Lane Parke tenants Jeni’s ice Cream, Basecoat on Fifth and Ignite in 2022.

Birmingham Restaurant Week Set for Aug. 12-29

Birmingham Restaurant Week, presented by Spire, will return Aug. 12-29.

The event will feature more than 70 participating Birmingham restaurants offering to-go and dine-in menus.

“Birmingham Restaurant Week 2021 is a bright spot for everyone,” said Bill Stoeffhass, co-founder of BRW and owner of Style Advertising, in a released statement. “This 18-day culinary affair provides an opportunity for the public to revisit old favorites or to experience new restaurants while allowing local chefs to showcase the delicious recipes that put Birmingham on the foodie road map.

From page 14

Dining options will range from fine dining establishments to casual food trucks, offering special two and threecourse prix-fixe menus ranging from $5 to $50 per person.

The wine tasting event, Wine-O-logy, will take place Aug. 18, 4:30-7 p.m., at Vino & Gallery Bar in English Village, featuring food and live entertainment.

For more information, visit bhamrestaurantweek.com.

Saint George Middle Eastern Food Festival Returns in Sept. Journal photo by Jordan Wald

From page 14

Saint George Melkite Catholic Church has announced plans to host its 39th annual Middle Eastern Food Festival Sept. 23-25.

This year’s festival will coincide with the church’s 100th anniversary.

The menu will include baked kibbee, stuffed grape leaves, spinach and meat pies, falafel, Mediterranean-style chicken and other foods. In addition, a variety of Middle Eastern sweets will be served, including zalabieh, a freshly fried doughnut dipped in rose flavored syrup and dusted with powdered sugar.

“We anticipate a full-fledged festival, though there may be a few modifications made based on CDC guidelines,” said festival co-chair Annette Ritchey.

Festival hours will be from 10:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. each day, with drivethrough service available from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. In addition, lunch orders of $75 or more can be delivered to the downtown area on Thursday and Friday.

Tours of the church will be conducted daily until 8 p.m.

Ten percent of the proceeds from the festival will benefit the local and diocesan charities.

For more information, visit saintgeorgeonline.org.

Secret Recipe the Key to Troop 97 Scouts’ Annual Pancake Breakfast

Each year, Boy Scouts of America Troop 97 hosts a fundraiser featuring a garage sale, pancake breakfast and silent auction.

Before the onset of the pandemic, the fundraiser was held on Mother’s Day weekend. This year’s fundraiser took place July 31 at Trinity United Methodist Church in Homewood.

What sets these pancakes apart is the recipe, according to troop officials. Pancakes are made from scratch using a secret formula that has been passed down from scoutmaster to scoutmaster over the years.

Throughout the morning, volunteers and scouts flipped pancakes and served them on a plate with syrup and sausage as guests headed to the church gym to peruse the garage sale and silent auction items. mother to two children with Down syndrome. It now is a multi-location chain that focuses on employing staff with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In addition to being highlighted by a number of national media outlets, Wright was named 2017 CNN Hero of the Year.

In seeing the community support for Biddy & Beau’s, O’Hara said he knows that Unless U Scoops will be a success.

One of his favorite aspects of the project is that it exemplifies Big Spoon’s philosophy that ice cream is more than just a dessert.

“Ice cream is always about more than food, it’s an experience,” O’Hara said. “It’s celebratory; it’s fun; it’s meant to be shared with others. I can’t wait to see how our friends at Unless U impact their community through sharing these type of experiences.”

The Big Spoon team has been involved throughout the process of conceiving and opening the ice cream shop, even helping Unless U develop its own unique ice cream flavor.

Scoops Signature Flavor is made from a cake batter ice cream with sprinkles topped with a “uni-cone” in a nod to Unless U’s school mascot, the unicorn.

Other flavors that have made it on the opening menu include standards

such as vanilla, chocolate and cookies ‘n’ cream; as well as Beach Bonfire, which is smoked coconut vegan ice cream with vegan fudge and vegan/gluten-free graham crumble; and Blueberry Cobbler, which is vanilla ice cream with blueberry jam and sour cream cobbler top pieces. “It has been a life-changing experience to have a chance to spend time around their students, and to play a small part in giving them purpose is so meaningful to us,” O’Hara said. Unless U Scoops will be a space where members of the community will see Unless U students not through the lens of their disability, but their work serving up scoops of ice cream. Enjoying the secret recipe at Troop 97’s annual Pancake Breakfast were, from The store hours will be Tuesdays left, Kathleen, Will and Tommy Thompson. through Thursdays, 1-6 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 1-8 p.m.; and Sundays, 1-6 p.m. The shop will be closed on Mondays. For more information, visit unlessu.org. Shop Full of New Items Tues.-Sat. 10-4:00 5620 Cahaba Valley Road 991-6887

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