Chef Dato's Table
People
“Farm to table” cuisine is becoming vogue in the U.S., but where David “Chef Dato” Kadagishvili came from, it never went out of style. A native of the nation of Georgia, Chef Dato came to the U.S. with his wife, Kara, and won a scholarship to the renowned Culinary Institute of America, in Hyde Park, New York. After years of experience as a chef and caterer, he opened his first local restaurant, which he quickly outgrew. “We really wanted to do more banquet business and be able to host larger groups,” says Kara, “and bring in some tourism.”
Progress
Advisors at the St. Vincent College Small Business Development Center told the Kadagishvilis about a lender that’s dedicated to both rural tourism, and fresh food. The Progress Fund arranged a $73,000 loan from the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Business Enterprise Program and a $110,000 loan from the state First Industries Tourism Fund.
Impact
Chef Dato’s Table is attracting both locals and tourists through daily features and cooking classes. Chef Dato features different country’s cuisines on Thursday, complete with an International Culinary Passport, which you can get stamped as you enjoy food from Brazil, Thailand, Mongolia, Australia and other exciting locales. Everything is made from scratch, and many ingredients – blueberries, tomatoes, herbs, to name a few – come straight from local farms. The goal is bolstering what Kara calls “the whole movement toward knowing where your food comes from and how it’s being prepared.” Chef Dato is “not just feeding you, but also showing you and teaching you about food.”
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