Compassionate Thanksgiving 2024 ~ Change of Plans

Serious catering pose at the slightly spooky Skyliner Lodge. IYKYK.

Bundled up for a chilly food cart day.

Friends and Fans,

Sadly, we won’t be able to host our annual Compassionate Thanksgiving dinner this year. We’re so disappointed and know that many of you will be, too.

(Instead, we’re offering a delicious Compassionate Thanksgiving Feast pickup featuring many of our favorite vegan dishes from past dinners—plus a few new ones: Wild Mushroom Wellington, anyone? Click here for more info and ways to order!)

Some background: The date was long saved with our regular venue, and we had every intention of hosting there again. However, we were recently notified of a rate increase that we simply can’t absorb. After exploring several last-minute options (including generous offers of help from some of you), we concluded that given all the costs involved—rental fees, staffing, event insurance, city/county/OLCC permits, organic food, and other expenses, including closing our food cart for at least a day—the event is just not feasible for us this year and is even financially risky going into what may well be another very slow winter.

As a small, ethically driven vegan food business, we've been proud to host this community event as we understand it holds great significance for plant-based folks, allowing us all to celebrate together and make new connections while nurturing old ones.

Moving forward, we’re hoping to find an affordable facility to host larger events like these (80+ people), cooking classes, and more. Rentals in Bend seem to keep going up and since we are not a nonprofit or private party, we typically pay the corporate rate for venues that we book (as opposed to when we are hired to cater for others). We’re open to exploring a nonprofit model for these events, as part of our bigger vision has always been a teaching kitchen. Please reach out to Barb with your ideas, she’d love to grab a tea and chat.

We appreciate your incredible support throughout these 8.5 years of serving unique New American Vegan cuisine through our food cart, catering, and events in Central Oregon. We look forward to more good things to come!

Best, ~ Barbara Troyer & Chef Richard Hull