Maine Initiative
At Crispy Gài, Cyle Reynolds and Jenny Roberts place a premium on giving back to the community.
When you stop in for a bite at Crispy Gài, you can expect good vibes and chef-driven Thai street food, but the restaurant started by Chef Cyle Reynolds does a lot more than offer Southeast Asian cuisine; it’s a community establishment through and through.
Crispy Gài has become a pillar of the Portland community, working with local charities and organizations to provide opportunities and resources to those in need. And at the helm of this operation is Jenny Roberts, Crispy Gài’s community impact coordinator. “I’ve been on board since day one,” says Roberts. “I’m an industry baby. My first job was at 16; hosting at the local floating boat restaurant, DiMillo’s on the Water. Cyle, Sasha [Brouillard], and I met while working at Central Provisions. When Crispy Gài started as a pop-up during COVID-19, they called me and were like, ‘Do you wanna sling chicken sandwiches?’ Since the day it opened we knew it wasn’t just about food—we can do so much more.”
Giving back to the community was the foundation of Crispy Gài’s identity, but it still took some time to figure out what that was going to look like for the restaurant. They tested the waters with their first project in 2021: a Thanksgiving community meal, donating free, warm meals to those in need, no questions asked. “It went really well,” Roberts remembers. “We did another on Christmas, but we figured that it didn't make sense to do it only as a two-times-a-year-type thing. We wanted to do more.” So, Reynolds approached Roberts about stepping away from service and taking on a new role as community impact coordinator, a position that she happily accepted.“This is really central to who I am. I’m from Portland, and I want to serve the community.”
Chef cyle reynolds
Khao Soi: Braised Chicken Thigh, Fermented Mustard Greens, Coconut Milk, Shallot, Cilantro, Fried Egg Noodles, Lime
After some initial success, Roberts and the Crispy Gài team felt confident enough to kick their efforts into high gear. They started working with Wayside Food Programs to set up a community meal initiative where customers have the opportunity to buy a meal for someone in need. Each month Crispy Gài features a different charity—past causes have included Equality Maine, Speak About It, and the Somali Bantu Community Association—with a dollar from sales of a specific menu item being donated.
Roberts and her team also make sure to get fellow hospitality professionals involved. “We did a bake sale for Juneteenth where the money went to an organization that raises funds to help the formerly incarcerated return to society. I reached out to 50 establishments in Portland asking to donate one baked good and they were like, yeah would you like 100? I’m very lucky that there’s a lot of people in the community offering support.”
Having been met with so much enthusiasm from the community, Roberts isn’t planning on slowing down anytime soon. “Touré Folks, the founder of Turning Tables in New Orleans, has been lending guidance to me to start an organization here in Portland based on their model, which advocates for equity in the hospitality industry by providing a beverage-focused externship program that includes mentorship, educational tools, job placement,etc. to Black and Brown communities. Crispy Gài intends to support this in what ways we can. Cyle, Sasha, and I hope to see this land externs behind the bar at Crispy Gài. We want to start getting some programs going for the youth too. We don’t know exactly what that’s going to look like yet, but anything we can do to help them achieve their goals will help the community.”
Despite the success of their programs, Roberts admits that it’s been challenging to structure the whole operation, and when she gets stuck, it can be hard to find someone to turn to for guidance. “There aren't really any examples to look to.There are not a lot of references for how to build something like this.” Nevertheless, Roberts and her team are embracing the challenges head-on—leading by example and leaving their mark on the Portland community. “When you know that someone might have a warm meal, or you see a kid being able to go to a summer camp because of the stuff we’ve implemented, it feels amazing.”
