Local Meets Global
Images by: John Robson
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” begins the quote on the Statue of Liberty, taken from Emma Lazarus’s poem The New Colossus. In that spirit, Ruby’s Market in Denver is working day and night not only to welcome refugees from many lands but to celebrate their various cuisines and share them with their Colorado neighbors.
Ruby’s, on South Pearl Street, recently launched a Global Chef Box program, offering everyone a new opportunity to experience cooking from around the world and support local refugees.
What started as a pantry service—collecting emergency supplies such as canned goods and toiletries—has grown since its in inception March 2020, but the mission to help refugees has never wavered. The pantry has expanded thanks to the success of the market as well as the goodwill of partnering companies and volunteers. Today, the back room of Ruby’s Market holds shelves filled with spices, legumes, toiletries and more than a hundred Instant Pot cookers, ready to be boxed and delivered to families arriving in Northern Colorado.
Each refugee box is not simply a generic gift basket, left outside the front door. Each item is thoughtfully selected. For example, the owner of Ruby’s Market, Michelle Lasnier, has asked several local chefs to translate the Instant Pot instructions into their native language in a way that is easy for people to understand, ensuring they receive both the tool and the know-how to use it.
Michelle offers another example: “Afghans set out dried fruit and unsalted nuts for anyone they’re welcoming into their house,” Michelle says. She makes sure those items are included in the boxes created specifically for Afghan families, understanding that those families will probably be welcoming a caseworker into their home immediately. Those small details make the difference between feeling welcomed in the United States and feeling as alone as they ever have.
Through Ruby’s Market, Michelle has created a vibrantly diverse, talented and loving community. She explains how a few years ago she invited refugee families to Washington Park in Denver to celebrate the Fourth of July. “Thirty, 40, 50 people would show up, but with the pandemic we didn’t celebrate.” This past year, Michelle explains, it was just her and one Iraqi family that has been celebrating the holiday with her since the very first one she hosted. She considered canceling but was touched by her friend’s perspective: “We are going to celebrate freedom,” he said to her. She was persuaded to continue the tradition—with the twist that instead of hot dogs and chips, popular among the participants, she plans to at least move toward a more global spread that celebrates the community’s culinary diversity.
As a result of the diversity and shared love for food, a global chef collective was realized, comprised of chefs from all over the world currently living in Northern Colorado. Excited to share their culinary culture with those excited to try it, the chefs featured in the Global Chef Box program cook up a tasty invitation into the community.
Whether you enjoy such adventures as finding a new Ethiopian restaurant or you are merely curious about how other cultures season their stews, you can have the experience in your finest slippers without needing to find your passport. Previously featured chefs introduced customers to indigenous, African and Burmese cuisines.
Boxes can be picked up by the culinary-curious from the market every two weeks and will require very little to no preparation other than reheating in the oven. What you can expect in each box depends on which option you choose. Elect between two and three meals every other week, ready to heat and serve. Your box contains meals from at least two different chefs, each chef’s story and hand-selected snacks featured at Ruby’s Market, if you choose. Whether you take it to work for lunch or turn it into a date night, each box is a fun, cultural experience.
Other ways people participate in the Ruby’s Market community include volunteering to shop for culturally significant herbs and spices at international markets around Denver or donating items that will be included in the refugee boxes. You can find the list of needed products on the website’s Refugee Pantry page.
Of course, you can also visit the shop, where you are greeted with the most charming displays of nuts and sauces, as well as blankets, candles and jewelry from all over the world. Diverse but cohesive, fully stocked but not cluttered, the market strikes a delicate balance in every way. Making a purchase supports the market’s mission and its incredible vendors. If you find yourself in the area on a Sunday through November 13, Ruby’s Market is open during the weekly South Pearl Farmers Market.
Find Ruby’s Market at rubysmarketdenver.com or in Denver at 1569 S. Pearl St. Michelle will be there to welcome you with passion and enthusiasm, just like the Mother of Exiles, who with silent lips exclaims, “I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
