For Immediate Release
Contact
Diane Wolf
Phone: (508) 423-0052
Email: uglymug@earthlink.net
Local Restaurateurs seek crowd funding to bring a new kind of diner to Salem.
February 1, 2014, Salem MA — Salem residents Diane and Lee Wolf are hoping to open a new diner at 122 Washington Street, previous home of A Taste of Thyme Café. Since 2007, the couple has owned and operated the popular Lobster Shanty on Artists’ Row, and was featured in an episode of the Food Networks’ Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
The plan is for the new eatery, dubbed “The Ugly Mug Diner” is to create fun and funky combination of old and new. The goal is to offer handmade, fresh foods that are locally sourced when possible, while maintaining a classic diner atmosphere with weekly specials and breakfast served all day.
“What will set us apart from other breakfast spots is our crazy laser-like focus on the food,” says Ms. Wolf, a graduate of the Culinary Arts program at Johnson & Wales University. “We will be a full service diner with culinary professionals in the kitchen. We will cure our own bacon, serve farm-fresh eggs, smoke our own salmon for bagels and whip our own cream. We have fostered relationships with local farmers, including Maitland Mountain Farms here in Salem, to provide us with the best foods to offer our guests.”
While the Wolfs are sourcing capital in several places, they have also turned to RocketHub, a crowd-funding website that has garnered much attention recently due to their partnership with the A&E television channel.
Their RocketHub goal is to raise $50,000 by the end of February, and within the first 12 hours that the project was live, dozens of friends and several city leaders had already contributed.
They are still a long way from their goal and are hoping that locals and far-flung fans alike will lend a hand in making their dream diner a reality. As incentive, they are offering many levels of fun benefits that include your name engraved on a chair in the dining room, having a menu item named after you, a VIP dinner and cooking classes in your home.
The project page at RocketHub can be found here: http://www.rockethub.com/projects/38812-partner-with-the-ugly-mug-diner-launch-a-new-community-breakfast-joint
