Food equals love

The first Monday in June, Soup for You! Café reopened in its new location in the basement of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.
To hear Chef Judah Nataf tell it, he and the volunteers were nervous on opening day. They set chairs around nine round tables. They prepared soups, side dishes, and desserts as usual. And then they waited. The free, donation-based eatery had been housed in Seward’s Bethany Lutheran Church for almost 10 years, and now they were starting over again.
The hands on the clock ticked and people did come through the door – for all the same reasons they always had. They were hungry: for the healthy, delicious lunches, and for the sense of community Soup for You! Café provides. Chef Judah said, “We serve lunch Monday through Friday from noon to 1 p.m., but people sit at the tables talking long after the food is gone. Social isolation is a health concern that can be reduced by sharing a meal with others.”
When Chef Judah looks out over the faces in the café this summer, there are many he recognizes from their former location as well as plenty of new ones. He said, “I would have been broken hearted if our friends from Seward hadn’t been able to travel here. The two churches are only separated by 15 blocks, but that can be a lot if you don’t own a car.”

Many soups, many countries
Kenyan Peanut, Ukranian Borscht, Armenian Lentil, Hungarian Mushroom, Tuscan White Bean, and Japanese Miso Vegetable are just a few of the choices that come out of the kitchen. The menu at Soup for You! Café offers two to three meat, vegetarian, and/or vegan options from around the world each day. Chef Judah works from a recipe box of 50 favorites but says, “I don’t actually follow the recipes, they’re just starting points. We make soups based on what ingredients we have. That’s how most of the world eats, so why shouldn’t we?”
Chef Judah has been making soup in large quantities since 1995. He learned his craft while working in the kitchen of St. Martin’s Table, the beloved Riverside neighborhood restaurant that closed in 2010. He started his own soup CSA after that, which morphed into the Soup for You! Café. The only thing better than selling people good soup at a fair price turned out to be giving it away for free.

Radical hospitality
Born in Tunis, Tunisia, Chef Judah had a childhood filled with poverty, neglect, and hunger. According to him, “Hunger is a feeling you never forget.” He experienced homelessness when he arrived in Minneapolis, and lived under the Franklin Bridge surviving on free meals provided by local churches for a whole year. He remembered the times he was served food he couldn’t pay for with dignity. “Those exchanges meant so much,” he said. “To be offered choices, just like you were going to a restaurant.”
In addition to providing lunch, there are always a few free food items available for guests to choose from at the cafe. And every Wednesday, there is a substantial grocery give-away, with food donated by Whole Foods and distributed through Twin Cities Food Justice.
Sisters Camelot has partnered with Soup for You! Café almost from the beginning. They donate food left over from the food shares they offer each week at various churches. They are now doing a food share at Holy Trinity Church on the final Thursday of each month. This fulfills one of the promises the café made to Trinity when they agreed to house them. The partnership between the café, Sisters Camelot, and Holy Trinity is bringing better food security to the Longfellow neighborhood.
Another café standout is the house band, called The Grateful Fed, which plays every Tuesday for the pleasure of diners. Local musician Linda Breitag composed an anthem to celebrate the café, which has served more than 120,000 bowls of soup since it opened in 2014.
In a world filled with division, it’s unusual and heartening to be in a room with people who live differently from one another. Chef Judah said, “On any given day, I recognize someone who is employed and housed having lunch with someone who is carrying their life’s possessions in a small plastic bag. That’s the rainbow I hoped to be part of creating: a diversity of languages, backgrounds, and circumstances. That was my crazy idea when we started this place.”

Volunteers needed
With help from many volunteers over the years, Soup for You! Café has developed a model of radical hospitality. They could use more volunteers in their new location, especially people interested in learning how to make soup. Qualifications are an interest in healthy, soulful cooking, a willingness to learn, and a desire to feed people. Servers are also needed, especially on Tuesday and Wednesday, the two busiest days. Adult volunteers may bring their children ages eight and up to work with them.
Donations are also essential to the work of Soup for You! Café In the summer, people are welcome to donate their extra garden vegetables as long as they’re not chemically treated. It’s helpful to know in advance what vegetable donations are coming.
Holy Trinity Church is located at 2730 31st St. East. Enter through the parking lot doors, where a greeter is waiting to direct guests to the café downstairs. Lunch is served Monday-Friday from noon to 1 p.m. and all are welcome. For more information or to learn about volunteer opportunities, go to https://soupforyou.info.