For The Table Pop-Up Dinner: Family Classics - First Seating

A multicourse dinner with wine and beer for sale. This is not a cooking class. Guests will be seated at a communal table, and most dishes will be served family-style. Review our registration and cancellation policies here.

Join us for a cozy evening of classic dishes by For The Table, a catering company created by Helena and Mackenzie, two 18 Reasons staff members. Inspired by Sunday dinners at Grandma’s house (where a meatball is so much more than a meatball), this heart-warming menu will leave you feeling nourished and nostalgic. 

Bonding over a shared passion for all things involving food & eating, Helena and Mackenzie began cooking for gatherings in early 2024. After a handful of successful dinner parties, they started a small catering company, For The Table, in mid-2024. When going out to eat, Helena and Mackenzie always found themselves ordering every intriguing dish on the menu, inevitably turning to each other and asking, “Should we get that for the table?” The answer was (and still is) always a resounding yes. They created For the Table with the hopes of imparting every dinner guest with that same feeling of abundance & possibility that the question made them feel.

Helena and Mackenzie’s take on spaghetti & meatballs, Caesar salad, and banana cream pudding are inspired by memorable meals at their families’ dinner tables, and they cannot wait to feed you!

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Herby Sourdough Focaccia with Calabrian Chile Butter

Classic Caesar Salad with Radicchio, Garlic Croutons & Pepperoncini

Spaghetti & Meatballs with a Parm Shower

Roasted Banana Cream Pudding

This menu contains the following common allergens: Eggs, Dairy, Fish, Wheat. If you have allergies or dietary restrictions that concern your ability to dine, please e-mail info@18reasons.org before purchasing a ticket.

Helena Zindel’s work at 18 Reasons is driven by her belief that access to nutritious and affordable food is a human right. From a young age, Helena’s family couldn’t keep her out of the kitchen; she chose to write and self-publish a cookbook at age twelve and began working at her neighborhood bakery a few days after she was old enough to be legally employed. Her work as the Chef and Teen Culinary Arts Program Manager at Soil Born Farms ignited her passion for teaching cooking in community settings. Helena continued to pursue her passion for food justice while working to increase food access & security for newly arrived refugees with the Internal Rescue Committee in Sacramento. Helena has been catering independently since she was in High School and runs her own catering company to this day, when finds time outside of her work as the Assistant Program Manager for Cooking Matters at 18 Reasons. When she's not busy making a big pot of beans or baking sourdough loaves for her neighbors, Helena can usually be found catching up on cookbook reading, bike riding through Golden Gate Park, and hunting for the best breakfast sandwich in the city. Helena is someone who deeply believes in the power of home cooking in changing people's lives for the better and is thrilled to be a part of the team here at 18 Reasons.

Mackenzie Kaplan grew up surrounded by her aunties and Grandma, who cooked and talked over each other in the kitchen. From a young age, she was chopping, dicing, and sautéing to cook for her family's weekly Sunday Dinner. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends gathered weekly to share stories about life while working together to craft the evening dishes seamlessly. It was around that Sunday dinner table that she fell in love with food and its ability to bring people together. Mackenzie brings a warm and welcoming energy to 18 Reasons and strives to bring the same sense of belonging that she felt in the kitchen surrounded by her family to all of her classes. When Mackenzie isn't baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies or a sheet of focaccia, you can find her scavenging thrift stores for vintage kitchen goods, spending time outdoors, and exploring local food and drink.
 

_{Photo courtesy of For The Table}