Culture
The Restaurant of Second Chances
Acclaimed Dallas chef Chad Houser opens a permanent home for Café Momentum, giving on-the-job training to young offenders.
For a guy who has a restaurant opening in a couple of weeks, Chad Houser is remarkably calm. In the run-up to the official opening on January 28, Houser's staff are putting together recently delivered bar stools, polishing silverware, and installing the custom-built chef's table.
The veteran chef of Dallas institutions like Parigi, Houser has launched many restaurants, but his current project, Café Momentum, is unlike any other eatery in the country. From the first day that his new restaurant opens in downtown Dallas, it will be staffed mostly by young men who have been incarcerated before reaching their 18th birthday.