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10/07/2015 08:30 AMWhere’s the new popular place to lunch in Madison? The Senior Center Café. The café, which opened in August, has had a busy first month, serving nearly triple the number of individuals it served last year and the café is ready to keep expanding.
On the heels of the impressive first figures, Senior Services Director Austin Hall came before the Board of Selectmen to request and additional $15,000 in funding to support the booming success of the café. The board approved the request.
“Since we kicked off our café service on Aug. 3, in the café we have served 914 meals to 264 different individuals,” he said. “We have jumped up on the number of meals served by 290 percent, so it is going extremely well.”
The café has been a big hit among seniors and has helped to bolster the centers other programs as well.
“We get great comments every day about how great the food is,” he said, “and seniors are coming and staying for activities after lunch, they are coming to activities before and staying for lunch.”
Hall said he’s requesting more money to expand the café staff as it success has surpassed his initial expectations.
“I came to the Board of Selectmen last budget cycle to plan for this and I came in a little too conservatively because I didn’t know what the public reaction was going to be,” he said. “I didn’t ask for enough because I didn’t know how successful this would be.”
For the café, Hall requested and additional 7 ½ hours for the café chef and an additional 12 ½ hours for the café server, both of whom Hall said are critical to the success of the café.
“Our chef is cooking 60 meals a day basically with about five hours of his time,” he said. “We have one server to serve up to 40 people. We are averaging about 24 to 25 people a day. That is a lot of work for one person to do. And not only does she serve, but she is also washing the dishes, prepping, and all that work. We are busting at the seams.”
To help alleviate some of the pressure on the staff, Hall also requested that a 15 hour a week dishwasher be hired. Hall said these additions are necessary to keep the café functioning at a high standard.
“We have a very good thing going and I don’t want to see it not continue,” he said. “We are helping the seniors in town by providing a hot meal and it is a restaurant quality meal that you can’t get anywhere else for $4.”
Selectwoman Diane Stadterman confirmed the success of the café and spoke in support of expanding the staff.
“I had lunch there two weeks ago and it wasn’t one of the busiest days, but it was still three times what it had been under the old food plan,” she said. “And the things that impressed me where first of all the meal was fantastic, and when I looked at the serving size, I thought to myself, ‘My word this is too much food,’ but every senior in the room cleaned their plate.”
Stadterman said the social aspect of the café is also still very important and the staff’s commitment to the seniors is key.
“The other thing that impressed me immensely was that Kevin came out from the kitchen when the meal was basically finished and he knew half of the seniors by name and he interacted with them beautifully,” she said. “They all know who he is and they put their two cents in on the meal. I always said if we build it, they will come, and I love being proven correct.”