Support our Mission to serve 100 free meals a day in LA

Hello! My name is José Santana, Private chef and founder of Temple Grade Intelligent Food (TGIF). Along with our Head Chef, November Rivera, we have been making and donating 100 free meals a day to displaced families, volunteers, and first responders all over Los Angeles five days a week since January 14th. We haven't done it alone! We have five other incredible chefs and even more volunteers who have donated their time and efforts to this tremendous need. In order to sustain this, we need your help!

When the fires started, a production studio by the name of Archival , owned and operated by Colin and Christiana, graciously took us in. Pasadena and Altadena were evacuated, and where I was living at the time, the power went out due to the Santa Ana winds. I started cooking for the people that were there right away, almost instinctively. Everyone needed a bit of comfort, and I like to think of Temple Grade Intelligent Food as Healthy Comfort Food. On the second or third day of cooking a few meals a day for everyone, I shared a dream of mine in passing: to have a place dedicated to creativity where the door was always open and food was always on the table. Especially now, to be able to give 100 meals a day for free to those in need. Christiana said, "Do it here." So we started the next day with Dr Matt Brousseau, Shannon Kraemer and Ruby Wright finding places that needed food in DTLA. I made 40 meals out of their kitchen that day, we packaged them, and then they were picked up. I looked at Ruby in disbelief. We had our first donation order! The rest is history.

Dr Matt Brousseau suggested I call Multi-Restaurant kitchens. One of them was COLONY LA. I told them what we were doing, and they also said, "Do it here." So we moved our operation to Venice, about 30 minutes away from Archival in DTLA. COLONY LA set us up with a kitchen and populated it with appliances for us to use, and in 3 weeks, we have served more than 1,800 meals from our kitchen. Without branding or funding, we have managed to source donations in the form of food and packaging and some financial donations that have helped to recoup initial costs that I have paid for out of pocket, like insurance for the kitchen, groceries, and kitchen supplies.

I never wanted to run a kitchen or own a restaurant. Being a private chef with the ability to set my own schedule and choose which opportunities resonated with me was a freedom that I said I'd never trade. But here we are. I'm writing this because I feel like life is calling, and I must answer. To continue this work, we need to try something different, something new for us. The fires have affected us all in so many ways with many having lost their homes, places of worship and jobs because of this catasrophe.

Out of this need has been born "The Best Soup (I Ever Had)" by TGIF. A community-driven soup kitchen serving broths, bisques, curries, stews, and chilis, all paired with bread and/or rice, followed by a sweet treat. Our goal is to make healthy comfort food a staple in Los Angeles and eventually nationwide. You can have it all, something that tastes great and is great for you! We will have Vegan, Vegetarian, and Omnivore options, ensuring no one is left out. After all, we all need to eat.

As a private chef, I've had the good fortune to cook for some of your favorite artists like Jhené Aiko, Big Sean, Charlie Puth, and more. Now I want to make that same caliber of healing, healthy food available for all who need it. Help us help communities in need by sponsoring our flagship restaurant today.

With each meal we sell, we will match that and donate a meal so everyone wins. (Really, no matter how many meals we sell, our desire is to continue to provide 100 free meals a day for displaced families, first responders, and volunteers. If we sell more than 100 a day, then we will match those numbers, but even if we don't break 100 sales in a day, our goal is to be able to continue to serve 100 meals daily at no cost to the people in need.)

If we valued each meal we've served at $10, then that's $18,000 in goods and services that we've provided at no cost. If at $15 per meal, then that's $27,000. While $10-$15 for a full meal is unheard of for the caliber of this food, making this food accessible is one of our top priorities. Since all of our food has been donated to us we have been serving various soup or pasta, salad, rice or bread, and a treat.

Here is a quick rundown of costs and what we need and why we need it. We want to pay the wonderful people on our team that have been helping us execute this vision since day one as well as hire people from areas impacted.

These are monthly costs, some feature unit breakdowns:

Incorporation, Trade Mark, Insurance - $2,000

Utilities and shared maintenance - $2,500/month

Rent - $2,000-$4,000/month

Staff (Chefs, sous chefs, Expo) - $9,000-$12,000/month

Produce - $2,500/month

Freezer Chest - $1,500

12 oz paper soup cups, 250 count, $70/box (we need 4 boxes every week) - $1,120 - $1,500

Paper Bento Boxes - TBD

Avocado seed utensils, 240 unit count, $84/box, 32 boxes/month - $1,528

Shelving - $400

Baking Pans - $350

Cast Irons - $500

Labels (for glass ware and selling broths and soups) - $1,400

Hot Hold - $1,500-$3,000

Electric Caldrons (for keeping soup hot during service)

Printed bags, 4,000 count - $600

Thermal bags for delivery - $200

We have some concepts to take to retail to help support our vision as well as some contracts we can take on in private events as well as film sets (please consider us for your next set or event).

We would also like to extend a partnership in the form of percentage for larger donations. Every $5,000 donation equals 0.75% stake in The Best Soup (I Ever Had) and $10,000 donation equals 1.5% stake in the The Best Soup (I Ever Had). This offering caps out at 40% available stake in TBSIEH, another way to see this is $260,000 is the total cost for 40% stake in the company. Please remember there is only 40% of stake in the company available for this offer. Once we've crossed that threshold, any persons still looking to give that amount can do so but without possibility of buying into The Best Soup (I Ever Had).

We also need to hire a coordinating team, web developer, app builder, photographer/videographer and a marketing firm. Volunteers and donations have carried us this far; now we are taking it to a new level. Join us as we bring The Best Soup (I Ever Had) to the public at large. Peace and blessings.

Sincerely,

José Santana and November Rivera - Temple Grade Intelligent Food