Downtown Leavenworth restaurant is giving away 200 free meals for Christmas

LEAVENWORTH – Larch restaurant will be giving away 200 free meal kits this Christmas Eve.

The meal kits are designed to serve two to four people, and will come ready made with instructions on heating. They are available to anyone, regardless of their financial situation. 

“There are mothers that are working full-time this time of year and they just need a night off from cooking, or there are people that are just emotionally in a place where they don't have the wherewithal to cook themselves a nice meal on Christmas, and we want them to take part in it too. So essentially, we want this to be our thank you to this community who has supported us so much in the last few years,” said Chef Ben Herreid, co-owner of Larch and Prusik Kitchen and Bar.

The kits will include maple bourbon-glazed Christmas ham, a traditional choice with a maple-syrup homage to Herreid’s home state, Vermont. The ham will be accompanied by rosemary garlic mashed potatoes, herbed baby carrots and broccolini, and dinner rolls.

The idea for meal kits started in the early days of the pandemic, during which Herreid co-owned Wildflour Restaurant near Lake Wenatchee. When businesses had to shut down, they had extra food about to go to waste.

“So at that time, we produced it all into what we call meal kits, and we gave it out to the community. We were actually able to do it for several months straight, relying on people donating more food and the fire department distributing it,” said Herreid.

Now that Herreid owns the two restaurants in Leavenworth, he saw an opportunity to give back to the community in a similar way.

“In this time of year, some people I know are struggling and inflation is not easy for some families and we wanted to do what we could. It just made sense to do what we knew how to do…we just make food,” said Herreid.

While Herreid and his staff will spend the week prior prepping the meals, parts of the community have also enlisted to help. Eight to 10 volunteers have signed up to help on Christmas Eve, and the new owners of Wildflour donated the potatoes and bread for the meal. Herreid even has some of his family getting involved.

“My older teenage daughters are kind of at an age where I think it's a really good thing for them to see that Christmas is also about giving out and not just receiving, and so they're going to be helping alongside me as well on Christmas Eve putting together the kit,” said Herreid.

Herreid says 50 to 60 people have signed up for the meal kits so far, and encourages people to also pick up a meal kit for anyone they know might need it.

Those interested should send an email to larchprusikevents@gmail.com. Pick up time will be on Christmas Eve between noon and 1 p.m. at Prusik Kitchen and Bar, located on 219 9th St.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media