kickstarter for kevin sousa's new restaurant in braddock (Pittsburgh, Portland: sale, organic)

[CaptainPittsburgh]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

A bunch of stuff.

Respectfully, I think you're making some bad assumptions about this dude. Sure, he may be a bit hipstery and high-brow and whatnot, but he also genuinely seems to care about trying to improve some of our local communities.

Everything I've heard from the guy makes him sound legit. I think he was also born in McKees Rocks, so he is kind of from the type of community that he shows interest in.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by CaptainPittsburgh

Respectfully, I think you're making some bad assumptions about this dude. Sure, he may be a bit hipstery and high-brow and whatnot, but he also genuinely seems to care about trying to improve some of our local communities.

Everything I've heard from the guy makes him sound legit. I think he was also born in McKees Rocks, so he is kind of from the type of community that he shows interest in.

I know the type of people who say things like "Those who get it, get it; Those who don't, don't" (usually with their nose tilted upwards and with a slight grin). In other words, "If you don't agree with my ideology, then you're beneath me and/or are of lesser inherent quality or value". It sounds very smug and arrogant. I was keenly-interested in this article and this concept due to my affinity of revitalizing struggling communities like Braddock until I snapped when I read that closing quote from him. I've heard people say things like that before, and the ones who do so are the arrogant smug types who feel like they are neck-and-shoulders above most people. Maybe there's just a "bubble" around the East End these days, but I've been coming in contact with more people like this more frequently than when I first moved here. Living in Northern Virginia and playing along as people back-stabbed me socially made me more able to "see through" people. It's not a quality I enjoy very much, but I'm also less gullible than ever before.

Good for Kevin Sousa for taking such a gamble in a genuine quest to help Braddock. Bad choice of words, though, if I do say so myself, as he just alienated me from pledging $50. I'd rather contribute to someone who didn't think they were somehow ethically, ideologically, or morally superior than me (or anyone for that matter). If a struggling working mother living a block from this venture doesn't "get it", then is she of lesser value than Mr. Sousa? Would he judge her for not being "ahead of the curve"? If he's truly not pompous, then this article's writer just did a horrible job of misquoting him because I immediately do a mental sigh whenever someone says or types something like "The chosen ones who are truly enlightened understand..."

[Aqua Teen Carl]

- Dude wants to be local celeb chef
- Dude's restaurants have mediocre to poor ratings on restaurant review sites with high prices
- Dude wants your money to open another place is a Fallout 3-esque neighborhood
- Dude get's all smuggy because "you don't get it"

I don't like said dude.

[SammyKhalifa]

Originally Posted by Geeo

Best of luck to him in getting this off the ground. He goes where others fear to tread, including the banks (who are not really known for innovation or lending to distressed neighborhoods).

[CaptainPittsburgh]

Local dude studies, becomes a highly skilled chef and uses the attention he gets to invest in struggling neighborhoods and do community outreach for his hometown.

I can dig not liking fancy food, but I think the negativity is super lame considering the stuff this guy does. Whatevs, there's the internet for you.

Luckily, I got enough support for three or four.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Hey, everyone stop posting and give me money. I'll use it invest in struggling neighborhoods.

What, you're not going to give me money? You just don't get it mannnnnnnnnn.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

- Dude get's all smuggy because "you don't get it"

I don't like said dude.

This is really the main point that irks me. I like that he has a track record for opening restaurants in places like Garfield, East Liberty, (and soon Braddock, apparently) instead of following the herd to gentrified areas like Shadyside or Downtown. He thinks outside the box, and he's to be commended for that. I'm sure Salt of the Earth's popularity helped launch Verde, which, in turn, helped launch Voluto Coffee (and will probably launch more in Garfield soon).

Although he was my neighbor I never knew him personally. I always thought very highly of him as a person until I read that snide smuggy "those who get it..." comment. Unless someone can assuage my concerns about him being elitist/pompous I'm not donating to this cause, despite how much I'd love to see Braddock have an upscale sit-down restaurant. Piccolo Forno really helped to spur the ongoing renaissance in Lower Lawrenceville, and I'm sure Magarac could help to do the same in Braddock. With that being said I'm not giving money to someone who thinks he's superior to people. He's not God.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I'm sure Salt of the Earth's popularity helped launch Verde, which, in turn, helped launch Voluto Coffee (and will probably launch more in Garfield soon).

Just FTR Voluto was first to open, even before Salt. Original owners sold Voluto to Commonplace and I think there was a short closure with the changeover.

[jay5835]

I guess I "get it." I think this a wonderful idea, training local people to cook in, and run, a restaurant.

What stays the same is Mr. Sousa's and Mr. Fetterman's do-good/eat-good philosophy -- the restaurant aims to redefine "farm to table" and "local" by providing culinary training and opportunities at no cost to local residents, and also will offer free housing for stagiaires and culinary and service interns in a former convent next door.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

From the article:

"People who get it, get it," he added. "Those who don't, don't."

Ugh. I'm so sick of Pittsburgh turning into this city where a growing number of people are becoming smug self-righteous radical hipster elitists who put down others who are "beneath" them for not being "progressive" enough to enjoy drinking tofu birch beer while riding a Schwinn and listening to NPR. How is crowdsourcing a "progressive" concept? Sounds to me like Sousa wasn't able to secure private financing and is now begging the public to finance his restaurant for him via an overly-dramatic "all or nothing" scheme. I truly do hope he does well, and I wish him nothing but the best---for Braddock's sake. With that being said, though, the East End just since I moved here three years ago is becoming home to more and more of these "enlightened" types who enjoy nothing more than bragging about how "ahead of the curve" they are as they talk about the plight of third-world countries while driving around in their BMWs. This quote really struck a nerve with me because it sounds so arrogant and out-of-touch.

It seems like if you concoct a paragraph that includes buzz words like "free-range"; "food truck"; "organic"; "locally-sourced"; "bike lane", "ahead of the curve"; "people who get it"; and "progressive" then you're a true Pittsburgher these days. I'm not pining for the yinzers to overtake the city with their beer-swigging, belching, foul-mouths, parking chairs, Steelers pajama pants in public, etc. ambiance; however, why do we have to go from one extreme (urban redneck) to the other (a more "enlightened" version of Portlandia?) What about regular middle-class types who don't fit either mold? Can someone enjoy eating at one of Sousa's restaurants without caring about the backstory of the seed that sprouted the blade of grass that was consumed by the cattle that provided me with my burger?

I don't even know where to begin...