By Franz N. Borghardt

It really was a simple idea. It wasn’t even an original idea. Convince a bunch of restaurants to donate at least 15% of brunch proceeds to aid flood victims. Convince people to donate shelter items and classroom supplies. Convince people to go eat a meal. Very simple and very successful.

On Sunday, August 28th (and a few on Saturday, August 27th) 30 Baton Rouge restaurants participated in the Baton Rouge Brunches citywide charity brunch event, Brunching For Greater Baton Rouge. The event, which took less than a week to organize and execute, raised over $20,000 for the Baton Rouge Area Foundation to benefit the Louisiana Flood Victims Fund. We collected school supplies, cloths, and shelter items. Brunchers contributed to Amazon teacher lists created by various area school teachers. 

Frenchie at Louie’s Cafe served me a sausage biscuit sandwich and told me about losing everything. He got teary eyed when talking about the loss of his pet. Susan, a flood victim who had lost everything, told me she was eating at Mason’s because she wanted to help others like her. She asked me what I knew about Baton Rouge Brunches (I smiled and said, “I may know a few things”). I went to 15 restaurants over the weekend to support the event and these were the stories. Loss and optimism. Most restaurants said that the Brunching For Greater Baton Rouge brunch event was biggest brunch crowds they had ever seen.

Why did we do this? It sounds good to say that it was all done to help people but it was also for some selfish reasons. I wanted to feel normal. I wanted to feel good. I love brunch and I wanted to use it as a mechanism todo some good, even if just for one weekend. Very simple. There’s still a lot todo and a lot of work to be done. Sunday was about brunch.

Thank you to:                                                    

Shannon and Fisher, Stephanie Possa and her law firm, Tyler and Possa, Kyle Rome, Alex, John Zachary, Steven Moore and my law firm, Brandi, and to everyone else (you know who you are). Thank you to the citizens of Baton Rouge that made this happen.

Participating restaurants (thank you more than words can express):   

The Overpass Merchant

Mason’s Grill 

Tio Javi’s 

Table Kitchen and Bar

Canefield Tavern 

City Cafe 

Mestizo

Lasseigne’s American Grill 

City Pork Brasserie & Bar 

Simple Joe 

The Londoner 

Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar 

Galatoire’s Bistro 

Stroubes 

Capital City Grill Downtown

City Pork Deli & Charcuterie 

Sammy’s Grill on Highland 

Bistro Byronz (Midcity and Perkins)

Louie’s Cafe 

Breck’s Bistro and Pasta Bar 

Ambrosia Bakery

Willie’s 

Boil and Roux

Burgersmith 

Monjunis 

Epic Buffet at Hollywood Casino

Velvet Cactus

Olive or Twist 

#BFGBR #BrunchingForGreaterBatonRouge