It is with great pride and humble gratitude that bring me to share significant happenings in my work life. I am lucky to be in the position I am in, working for and with people that sincerely care about other people. The club owner and our leader John Dimitriou has never been one to self-promote or toot his own horn, but I am always more than willing and pleased to do it for him. He has done so much for the local community, and no one ever hears about it. Our current program is merely one thing he has done over the years, in the spirit of helping others.

He is a hero.

Since the pandemic began over a year ago, and the club shut down, the Dimitriou family made the commitment to serve a community in need. We have organized, created, and donated well over 100,000 meals. The recipients include Mary’s Place, OSL (Operation Sack Lunch), Jubilee Women’s Center, Sacred Heart Shelter, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, and Gesthemane Lutheran Church (sponsor of 10 different shelters in the greater Seattle area). Our production output is about 3000 meals per week.

We are still rollin’.

I wish to also mention an important partner/contributor to this cause. This would be Bill Cahill, owner of the locally famous and successful Beacon Plumbing. (You know the one, endorsed by Marshawn Lynch). Bill is also a major contributor to the community, which includes Ronald McDonald House, Northwest Harvest, Mamma’s Hands, and many more.

He is also a hero.

Recently, St. Bridget Catholic Church approached me about a fundraiser for Sacred Heart Shelter. They proposed a short video and food donation to be presented to the donors. I brought this to John’s attention and there was no hesitation whatsoever.

It was, “Let’s do what we can to help”.

For them, I put together a simple savory puff pastry with Yakima asparagus, ricotta, and Reggiano parmesan. The fundraiser turned out to be a great success, and one of the organizers came by this morning and thanked us by dropping off a bag with insulated beverage cups and a bunch of Starbucks gift cards for the crew. It was an unexpected and much appreciated gesture. The rest of the pictures are just a few of many meals we have prepared recently.

We hope to open again soon, but continue to do these things because we can, enabled by the aforementioned heroes. I am truly grateful for my role in it.

– Chef Alvin Binuya

Dimitriou's Jazz Alley