The New Deal Cafe is holding an online auction fundraiser to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.
Like many restaurants along the Route 1 corridor, the landmark Greenbelt restaurant and music venue has been hit hard by limits on indoor dining during the pandemic. It will hold the auction from Monday, Sept. 7 to midnight on Friday, Sept. 25.
“We hope to raise enough money to keep the New Deal Café rockin’ until we are able to bring our guests back to enjoy live music and full capacity indoor dining,” the cafe’s owners wrote on the auction site.
Items on the auction include art, pottery, home furnishings and collectibles. Several local musicians and music teachers, including Johnny Castle, David Kitchen, Pat Clark and Andy Rutherford, are offering private lessons in the auction.
The New Deal Cafe, which celebrated its 25th year in business earlier this year, was set up as a nonprofit co-op, part of a city tradition that dates back to its past as a planned town under President Franklin Roosevelt.
The cafe, which serves vegan Italian-American cuisine, is open for outdoor dining from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 4 to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. It’s also offering take-home meals and reheatable dinners for next-day delivery or curbside pickup.
