Café Momentum on the Road

If You Can’t Take the Heat…

In early 2019, juvenile justice program and Dallas restaurant darling Café Momentum contacted Ensemble to help take its brand on a national road show to start building, well, momentum toward replicating the model in new communities. Since opening its doors to the landmark Dallas restaurant in 2015, the program has garnered a national reputation as a replicable, sustainable model to help break the incarceration cycle for system-involved youth.

As an early step toward national growth, Café Momentum and its umbrella organization, Momentum Advisory Collective, set out to create pop-up restaurant experiences in target markets across the country. The concept played on Café Momentum’s origin story, gaining support (and funding) through Sunday night pop-up dinners prior to opening the first brick and mortar restaurant.

We came alongside to facilitate the experiential design and created restaurant experiences in a ballpark lounge in Nashville, TN; an indoor/outdoor restaurant in Los Angeles’ Fashion District; and in partnership with the NFL, Players’ Coalition, and Stand Together the night before the Miami Super Bowl in iconic South Beach, FL.

Ensemble worked to ensure these dinners delivered the incredible Café Momentum story in ways that moved NFL players to tears and left them talking on social media long after the actual event. Every detail — bespoke décor, detailed programming, high-impact gifting, security, brand management (especially with so many partners at the table) — was important to making sure guests left understanding the potential power of a Café Momentum in their neighborhoods.

SCOPE OF WORK

Event Concept and Execution

Program Development

Stage and Production Management

Graphic Design Management

Sponsor/Partner Benefit Fulfillment

Gifting