Healthy spirits and healthy bodies is part of the goal of a planned curbside eatery on Route 20 in Darien, according to leaders of Freedom Fellowship.
The non-profit organization is seeking a special use permit for the planned establishment, which did get the blessing of the County Planning Board last week.
The restaurant will be called The Table Latin American Grill and serve salads, rice bowls, and burritos.
"Part of our program is to eat healthy," said John Kula. "We don't really have sugars or a lot of carbohydrates in our menu. It's a pretty basic menu."
The staff for the eatery will be people who are going through or have been through Freedom Fellowship's addiction recovery program, which the ministry has been operating at 254 Broadway Road for a decade.
There's no new construction planned for the project. The ministry will use existing structures.
The addiction program helps people in a faith-based atmosphere deal with a range of addictions and related issues, such as depression and anger.
The restaurant is the latest non-profit business for the ministry, which already operates an auto repair shop and a print shop. The work in these businesses helps raise money for the non-profit but it is also part of the recovery process.
"It's outpatient therapy, really, for a lot of people," said Joshua Klenke, an operations manager. "It shows them a different way of life beyond what they know."
One of the managers of the new restaurant is a former regional manager for Cracker Barrel.
"He had an alcohol problem," Kula said. "The program changed his life. The Lord changed his life. And now he's paying it forward with this. And it's a blessing."
Freedom Fellowship's second annual Car Show and Chicken BBQ begins at 11 a.m. and runs until 2 p.m. on June 25. There is a basket raffle and prizes and awards for various classes of cars in the show. The location is 254 Broadway Road, Darien Center.
