Garden Cafe Chef Mark Wootton
Last night, Garden Cafe chef and manager Mark Wootton opened up the cafe’s back patio after-hours to host GOOD Dallas’ event, Let’s Build a Stronger Dallas.
Brandon Castillo, director of the Deep Ellum Outdoor Market, Erica Felicella, executive director of Art Conspiracy, Susie Marshall, president of the board of the Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Byron Sanders the executive director of the Dallas Education Foundation, and Samuel Stiles of the Dallas Parks Foundation served as panelists discussing how Dallas can work together to better the health and well-being of the city as a whole. Topics included food, community interaction, education, recreation and expression.
Panelists shared what they currently do in Dallas, as well as some amusing “conversion” tales of how they each came to have a passion for Dallas. Most notable were some of the facts that panelists shared, aimed at inspiring creative solutions from leaders and individuals in Dallas.
Brandon Castillo discusses the importance of outdoor markets and art fairs.
Samuel Stiles said that “the last community pool that the City of Dallas built was in the 1970’s.” The city, Stiles said, “spends $76 per resident on parks per year, while New York spends closer to $100 per resident.”
Susie Marshall emphasized the importance of eating locally grown produce. “If you paid hardly anything for your groceries, a laborer or a farmer was also paid hardly anything.”
Byron Sanders said that “your zip code and socioeconomic status should not determine the rest of your life.”
Corn stalks growing in the Garden Cafe parking lot.
At the end of the evening Mark Wootton shared that he looks forward to continuing to open his restaurant to community events, adding that “the best way to make the most of these events is to collaborate afterwards and make action plans for what to do next.”
Email Dallas@goodinc.com or go to the GOOD Dallas website for more information on future community events.
