Thank You for Coming: Building Community with Art and Food

 
Thank You for Coming is a new restaurant that is also an artist residency space, a scattered mix of young adults have come in for dinner. The people behind the counter look a bit stressed, working hard to cook and serve tonight's meal following a long day of shopping and preparation. On tonight's menu are ginger fried rice with a fried egg on top, kale and tomato soup with white beans, choice of ginger verbena or rose petal tea, and for dessert, either a white "fecundity" cake or a spicy chocolate coconut pudding.
 
TYFC seems to represent the latest incarnation of the longstanding affair between art and food, seen throughout the spectrum of art history in frescoes, still-life paintings, performance art, and social practice works depicting or utilizing food. But in reality, it is grounded in a more grassroots nexus that casually but passionately encompasses the worlds of sustainable farming, cooperative living, community-based activism, and yes, fine art and design. It's a fertile mix of influences that feels like it might be on the verge of birthing something new.
 
The place is operated by a large extended network of artists, gardeners, teachers, scientists, designers, and others, who all anonymously contribute their time and their various skills.