Canlis Hospitality

Back in the ‘90s, I attended a one-hour seminar on Hospitality, offered at a Women’s Retreat. The speaker was the owner of Canlis, a fine-dining restaurant in Seattle. I didn’t know her - our church was big - and I don’t remember her first name, but the owners of Canlis in the 1990s were Chris and Alice. I assume that Alice Canlis gave the seminar.

What would the owner of a world famous restaurant have to say about hospitality? Alice told this story (words are mine from the 30-years-ago memory):

One weekend morning at home, I was inspired to make cinnamon rolls. So I did. Then, I thought, “I’d like to share these!” I called around to friends and neighbors, whoever was available and said, “I’ve just made some cinnamon rolls. Will you come and eat them with me?” Whoever was available came over and we had cinnamon rolls together. I made some coffee to go along with them, but that was it! And we had a wonderful time!

Alice encouraged us to take whatever we have and share it. She said something like, “you don’t need much of a reason, and you don’t need to offer a full meal. Just bring people into your home with the simplest thing and your love.”

For this story, I explored Canlis history, and found this bit, written about Chris and Alice Canlis by their children:

(They) practiced a kind of hospitality that would transcend the restaurant business. Hospitality, they’d say, is more than caring for someone. It’s a certain kind of turning towards “the other.” The stranger. The foreigner. The one who is different. It’s the act of carving out space for someone you may not understand, who may not look like you, for no other reason, no personal gain except the singular fulfillment gained from following a belief to its end: We fundamentally need one another, and we were made for relationship.

That hospitality vision reminds me of Jesus’ shocker in the gospels:

When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, crippled, lame and blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you” Luke 14:12-14a

That’s a command I don’t keep. Please exhort me and share your stories so I can do better.

And I don’t make cinnamon rolls. But, I can do a few things, one of which is to get lots of help from other people. For one foray into hospitality, the main thing I contributed was an invitation! Two friends came for tea a week in advance to help me plan. One friend gave me the main dish idea - Costco croissants and Costco chicken salad. Three friends came early to stuff sandwiches and arrange. One friend brought an ancient (circa 1960) coffee percolator and made delicious coffee. And many brought beautiful food - caprese salad, green salad, mixed fruits, berries, olives, stuffed peppers, cukes and tomatoes, lemon bars, cheese-cake bites. Sounds like a girl-party doesn’t it? I observed to Kent, if he had had a guy-party, there would definitely have been BBQ.

And the guests brought the Holy Spirit with them. Their radiance and love filled the space and extended to new and old friends. That was perhaps the key ingredient.

** Photo by Eve Maier on Unsplash