Last night I went to a restaurant near the National Museum called Friends. It's not just a restaurant, it's an NGO. The purpose of Friends is to take children off the streets of Cambodia and train them in the food service industry so they have a marketable skill with which to make a living. All of the staff are either teachers or students in this program; apparently many of the former students have gone on to found new restaurants.
This restaurant was fantastic. It was all tapas (small dishes that are shared by everyone at the table, for those of you not inundated with Spanish restaurants in DC), and had all different types of food. As an added bonus, they ensure that their ice and vegetables are bacteria free. Anywhere else I'd be avoiding ice and any vegetables that aren't cooked or peeled, but here I got to just pig out on all the stuff I've been missing at other places. Any of my friends who are familiar with my hummus obsession won't be surprised to hear I ate the entire hummus plate I ordered without sharing. It was selfish, but I've missed hummus something fierce.
By Cambodian standards this place was definitely expensive. But I should point out that expensive meant that after a massive incredible meal and a pretty elaborate drink, it cost me $14 (including a tip). But the great thing is, of course, that not only are you paying more for high quality food you can't/shouldn't get elsewhere, but you are funding an extremely good cause. I love the concept of mixing gluttony with altruism. It seems like a business model that has "America" written all over it. I'm not sure if it would be possible to replicate something like this in the U.S. in a sustainable way, but there certainly are a lot of enterprises over here that operate along the social business model that I'm such a fan of. It's probably more a result of Phnom Penh being saturated with NGOs, but it's still great to see. Places like Friends are out there telling people what I want to spend a career telling them; that it's entirely possible to build businesses and markets in a way that earns a healthy profit AND helps the poor.
And, apparently, makes a delicious mango and nectar margarita. My heart was as full as my stomach.
http://www.streetfriends.org/
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2 comments:
Awww...this is kinda adorable. Extra garlic to you, my friend. I ate at a place called "Barbie" last night. No one spoke English and I was given an extra bowl after asking for rice. Try the Boddhi Tree cafe, its an NGO cafe near Tuol Sleng that does some wicked wicked things with tofu.
YAY!!! I'm so glad that you ate at Friends. I LOVE that place and everything it stands for. I'm also really glad to hear that it's still around... one can never be sure. Isn't it a great place? Social businesses rock!
If you have a chance, see what their other operations are like, I've been curious to find out...
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