Tabrizi's - Humanity over Profit #AtOZChallenge

Dr Roshan Radhakrishnan
19
The 2015 Baltimore riots lasted for nearly a month with hundreds of businesses damaged and a state of emergency being declared for weeks. As the city limped back to normalcy, restaurant owners decided to host Baltimore's Restaurant Week to woo customers back and make up for their losses.

Micheal Tabrizi had a different idea. The owner of Tabrizi's - a fancy fine dining restaurant that has won awards for 6 consecutive years for their hosting of weddings - decided he wanted to cater to the welfare of Baltimore's most vulnerable people rather than focus on his business.

So he closed Tabrizi's to the public during the 6 day period of Baltimore's Restaurant Week!


Instead, he partnered with local shelters with one sole purpose - to feed the homeless and the displaced for free for 6 days (from July 20 to July 25, 2015). He even arranged for bus transportation to and from the shelters to his restaurant.

Following the Baltimore riots, Micheal Tabrizi closed his restaurant to the public, choosing to feed the homeless and displaced for free for 6 days during Baltimore's Restaurant Week
In addition to losing revenue by turning his back on paying customers during the key Baltimore Restaurant Week, Micheal Tabrizi spent $20,000 from his own pocket to ensure everything went smoothly and the homeless enjoyed the finest dining experience of their lives.

Over the course of the Homeless Restaurant Week in 2015, Tabrizi's fed over 1300 homeless people at its white linen restaurant.
Over the course of the week, Tabrizi's fed over 1300 homeless people at its white linen restaurant.


The menus included Chicken cordon bleu in sage cream sauce, spring salads, sparkling apple cider (served in the finest champagne flutes) and ice creams for dessert over three daily shifts.
The menus included Chicken cordon bleu in sage cream sauce, spring salads, sparkling apple cider (served in the finest champagne flutes) and ice creams for dessert over three daily shifts.

"I just wish people would treat the homeless in a different way. 
People should remember it's always good to hear kindness 
and it's important to look people in the eye. 
The homeless feel less human -- like they're invisible. 
They just want to be respected.”
- Micheal Tabrizi

His kindness won the hearts of the people of the aching city of Baltimore. In the end, more than nine hundred people from all strata of society came in to volunteer their aid as servers for Homeless Restaurant Week with others donating everything from bread and chicken to fresh local produce to help Tabrizi's out.

Following the Baltimore riots, Micheal Tabrizi closed his restaurant to the public, choosing to feed the homeless and displaced for free for 6 days during Baltimore's Restaurant Week

His restaurant staff did their bit, refusing to take payment for their services during the week. Even competing restaurants chipped in, lending their time to come and serve food at Tabrizi's!

Following the Baltimore riots, Micheal Tabrizi closed his restaurant to the public, choosing to feed the homeless and displaced for free for 6 days during Baltimore's Restaurant Week
My dad used to always say, ‘You can’t control what people do 
and say, but you can control how you act.’ My reaction 
is bringing people together and showing them that I care.”
- Micheal Tabrizi

Why I want you to remember Tabrizi's

It is easy to forget those less fortunate than ourselves when we are going through a bad phase. Micheal Tabrizi instead chose to care for them, putting aside his own losses to give the homeless dignity and remind them that they were loved.

"These people don’t only suffer from hunger, but also from hopelessness, 
they feel that they don’t have any dignity anymore. We want them 
to come in and feel like they’re cared for."
- Micheal Tabrizi

You can witness the magic of a kind heart here in the video below:


Following the Baltimore riots, Micheal Tabrizi closed his restaurant to the public, choosing to feed the homeless and displaced for free for 6 days during Baltimore's Restaurant Week

This is part of my #AtoZChallenge where I will be focusing on Real Life Heroes: Shining Examples of Kindness and Compassion. You can find other real-life heroes here.


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19Comments

Let me know what you think.

  1. Ah doc. My mornings are always sweeter reading these stories. My eyes are almost always moist too, but I can live with that! What an inspiring man, and what an inspiring lesson this is. Beautiful.

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  2. It could have been so easy for him to do what other restaurant owners did during that restaurant week. He could have attracted more customers given the restaurant's reputation. But he chose humanity over his selfish needs. More power to him :)

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  3. A selfless human being. Proof that even in this cutthroat world, there are people who are not just looking out for their own interests. It's often easy to forget that, so thank you for the reminder :)

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  4. Wow! thats a true braveheart who ached for the less fortunate and did such a marvellous thing for them. Thanks for yet another beautiful share doc!
    ​Taaza Thindi in Bangalore

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  5. My dad used to always say, ‘You can’t control what people do
    and say, but you can control how you act.’ My reaction
    is bringing people together and showing them that I care.”
    - Micheal Tabrizi

    This is so beautiful. Hats off to Tabrizi!

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  6. It's true, isn't it? In times of graet diffiuclty, it's hard to remember that we should care for each other still, and if we do, we all become stronger.
    This is a moment in history when we should remember this more than ever.

    @JazzFeathers
    The Old Shelter - 1940s Film Noir

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  7. Feeding the homeless is so noble. Great endeavour by Tabrizi 👍🏻

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  8. This is truly a perfect example of a selfless man. Such a noble person feeding the homeless. think one need not think what others say just listen to your heart and move forward

    http://www.simpleindianmom.in/quick-diy-organic-pesticides/

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  9. It's Karmic, I feel. A selfless action can bring humanity together where we forget our differences to help the less needy. Giving free food is such a noble act. I remember a group of Sikh who would give free Biryani and Kichdi with desert every Thursday after prayers offered to Shirdi Baba to commuters at Churchgate Station in Mumbai.

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  10. It's not only about feeding the homeless left over food. Cooking such delicious food for them and having a menu is so kind.

    More power to him!

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  11. Wow! That's so amazing! I hadn't heard about that. It's totally a boost and a great story to start the week on! Thank you so much for sharing.

    Visiting from the A to Z Challenge. See My “T” post here: https://lydiahowe.com/2017/04/24/t-is-for-tenacity-atozchallenge/

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  12. The fact that he chose to let people fine dine and not just serve them like doing them a favour, wins me over...how many people will do that? The look on the faces of the diners says everything!

    Shubhangi @ The Little Princess

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  13. That's a story of a very kind gesture by Tabiziz. Especially when we all think of profit first and humanity later..this one is inspirational.

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  14. Wow! That's an amazing act of selflessness. Giving the homeless the best dining experience and not thinking of his profits/business is not commonly seen. Hats off to Micheal Tabrizi. May his tribe increase!

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  15. Feeding the homeless is in my mind, one of the most kind and noble things to do. Lovely gesture.

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  16. Such a selfless act. When others were worried about profits they chose to help the less fortunate instead. Such a kind gesture.

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  17. Hope is so important. Without hope, we can't even believe that things will ever get better. And Tabrizi's didn't just serve them food, but it gave them hope! It shifted their mental state to GRATITUDE. This would have been a turning point for so many of them.
    Happy AtoZing!
    Chicky @ www.mysteriouskaddu.com

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  18. Well done Michael Tabrizi for showing compassion and kindness. In Wellington NZ we have the Compassion soup kitchen that feed the poor, lonely, and homeless everyday. My faith in humanity is revived each time I hear these stories. Thanks for sharing.

    Suzy at Someday Somewhere

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  19. So nice thing to hear... there are some outlets I read that have a fridge outside, people can open and eat from it free of cost... this story is beautiful as it really did bring everyone to serve food to the homeless even the competitiors(: ... its lovely

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