Purple Table Reservations: A Warm Welcome to Everyone!

By: Ginny Mazur, Community & Academic Arts Advisor at Goddard House

Anyone with a disability, cognitive or physical, knows that enjoying the simple pleasure of dining at a restaurant can be extremely challenging.  From mobility barriers to loud music and harsh acoustics to small print and poor lighting, it can be discouraging enough to give up and stay home. That’s why Purple Table Reservations, a nationwide training movement just starting to take hold in restaurants, is so welcome.  In addition to hospitality, Purple Table restaurants offer compassion, respect and awareness for the needs of diners with disabilities in the space design, service and accommodations they offer.

Goddard House, as a member of the Brookline Community Aging Network and Age/Dementia Friendly MA, is advocating for local restaurants to become Purple Tables.  Taking the lead, is an award-winning chef and food writer, Irene Li, who operates Mei-Mei just off Beacon Street by St. Mary’s station. Li draws on inspiration close to home – her dad had a stroke that left him physically disabled, followed by Alzheimer’s disease.  She puts out a call for restaurants to practice accessibility as hospitality, beginning by making improvements where they can and by training their teams.

To learn more, read this article by Irene Li >>