BILLINGS — On the second Friday of every month, Kirk's Grocery is transformed by chef Ashley Woodward and her team into a pop-up pay-what-you-can restaurant called Kitchen Party.
“Anybody that thinks that food is something that you should have to earn has not been hungry," said Woodward.
On Friday, the pop-up was themed "London Calling," touting a British-inspired menu, and named after the 1979 Clash album; consisting of a three-course meal of the following:
- Sesame and curry-crusted carrot with vegan black pudding and peas puree
- Butternut squash wellington stuffed with beet nut wrapped in mushroom duck cell with puff pastry, decorated with spicy mint jelly
- Florentine lace cookie stuffed with an early grey poached pear slice and vanilla peppercorn cream
“It would behoove a lot of people to, kind of, restructure their ideas about: what is a valuable society member," said Woodward, about the guests at Kitchen Party who tend to vary across socioeconomic backgrounds.
Earlier this year, the House of Representatives announced it would cut $8-million from the Older Americans Act (OAA) as a part of next year's budget.
“We’re going to have to figure out how to meet more need with less money," said Erika Purington, executive director of Yellowstone County's Adult Resource Alliance which receives support from the OAA.
The organization provided approximately 150,000 meals last year alone to seniors like Bonnie and Len Richards, who said they eat at the Adult Resource Alliance up to five times per week.
“It’s very important for comradery for older people. It’s very important that they don’t just sit at home and watch TV," said Len.
Across town, Tyler Amundson, the executive director of Big Sky Senior Services said the issue of seniors being in need will impact every generation.
“We all assume there’s a system in place where we’ll age, and then eventually, we’ll move into some kind of simpler home, and then there’s going to be a nursing home when we really need it, and that’s no longer true already," said Amundson.
Both Big Sky Senior Services and the Adult Resource Alliance said with cuts like those to come next year, community programs like Kitchen Party will be more in demand.
