The last few years have hammered the world with shutdowns, restrictions, mandates and more. With grit and determination, members of the industry chose to pivot, but not without hardship.

Craftmade Aprons presents: Thistle & Grit - 12 chefs, 10 courses, 1 purpose.

Chefs Dan Bennett, Chris Paré, Steph Hedrick, Nettie Colon, Shane Opporto, Brandon Randolph, Brian & Nikki Podgorski, Michael Shaughnessy, Reide Martin, Alex Warren, and JD Fratzke are partnering up with local sponsors in support of Craftmade Apron’s Project Black and Blue - a fund committed to providing tangible assistance to members of the service industry family.

This 10 course tasting menu is designed with products from our partners US Foods, Iron Shoe Farms and Smude Beef plus a wine pairing by Winebow and mocktails from The Fermentation Station. Focused on food accessibility, sustainability, and whole animal butchery, this coursing menu focuses on locally sourced product growing and produced at small, family owned farms right here in Minnesota.

Each of these chefs and partners have charged forward, redefining themselves and what it means to be a part of the hospitality community. Chefs became business owners, entrepreneurs, restaurateurs and more - proving perseverance and passion can turn despair and defeat into might and brilliance.

The goal of Project Black and Blue Definition: Bruised, beaten up. The term black and blue refers to the colors of a bruise. Something that is black and blue has been hurt either physically or emotionally. When used literally, black and blue describes a physical injury.

At the core of Project Black & Blue, there is an open acknowledgement of the bruises accumulated every day by workers in the service industry family. This industry, the largest job-producer outside of state and federal governments, is known to be near the top in terms of creating mental and physical stress for its workers.

Long hours of physical labor in high pressure workplaces, often held as a badge of pride within the industry, can take heavy acute and chronic tolls on workers trying to provide for themselves and their families. Also, the inseparable challenges of potential job insecurity, frequently lower wages and higher levels of addiction are always present.

Craftmade Aprons was started to provide high-quality, affordable tools for service industry workers. As our business continues to grow, due primarily to the overwhelming support of the service industry family, so must the manner in which we envision our role in this family and our responsibility to give back. It’s not enough to simply acknowledge the bruises, we felt we needed to create Project Black & Blue to provide tangible assistance to the members of the service industry family so that they can maintain dignity and continue to work.