February 22, 2016

Congratulations to Jason Alley!

A huge and heartfelt congratulations to our good friend Jason Alley today. Jason took home the Lifetime Achievement Award last night at the 2016 Elby Awards, a celebration of the Richmond dining scene, presented by Richmond Magazine.

Hailing from Appalachia, VA, Jason Alley spent his early years surrounded by the simple lifestyle of Southwest Virginia, enjoying comforting home-cooked southern food and helping out in the family kitchen. Inspired by his surroundings and family meals, cooking quickly turned into a calling for Alley. Alley began his culinary career in the kitchen of Harrisburg Country Club. Later, Alley travelled to work as a sous chef position in Illinois and later in Atlanta at the 1848 House, Blue Ridge Grill, and ENO. The ultimate career move brought Alley to Richmond, where he met his restaurant partner and eventually opened his renowned restaurants Comfort and Pasture, two of the most influential restaurants in Richmond. 

Comfort, which ranked as one of Southern Living’s Best Restaurants, is an award-winning restaurant with a refined take on comfort and soul food. Alley’s second restaurant, Pasture, has a southern-modern vibe and uses traditional Virginia ingredients on a menu of artful small plates and refreshing cocktails. Pasture also has a unique focus on local Virginia beers and wines. 

Alley is a celebrated chef in Richmond and beyond. He has represented the 2015 Chefs of the James Beard House nationwide tour, National Pork Board, and his restaurants and recipes have been featured in numerous national publications such as Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Southern Living, Garden & Gun, New York Times, Eater, Tasting Table, and the Washington Post. Also, Alley has been repeatedly invited as Key Chef for many national festivals including, Nantucket Food & Wine Festival, Aspen Food & Wine Festival, Feast, Charleston Wine & Food Festival, and Terra Vita Festival, and has won Style Weekly’s Best Chef in Richmond four years running. In 2014, Alley represented Virginia in Chefs for Equality in Washington, DC and at the Democratic Gov’s Association Gala with No Kid Hungry in 2015.  


 We congratulate him on this well-deserved award!

February 10, 2016

We Support Shepherd's Men!


Green Olive Media is proud to take on Shepherd’s Men, a fundraising organization that supports the SHARE military initiative at Atlanta’s renowned Shepherd Center. The SHARE initiative treats recent combat veterans who may have suffered repeated concussions or other physical brain injuries – injuries that can fuel PTSD. Through the program, veterans address any physical trauma they’ve suffered as well as psychological counseling and other PTSD treatments.

Elizabeth, Jeff and many staff members have deep ties to the military, a force that guided Green Olive Media’s choice to support Shepherd’s Men in their main fundraising effort: a 1,300 mile run through 10 cities from March 26 – April 3. Each of the 14 Shepherd’s Men will help complete the total mileage of this run while wearing a 22 pound flak jacket; they will also each run at least 22 kilometers per day. The number 22 symbolizes the military veteran lives lost on a daily basis to suicide. The group will make stops in cities large and small up and down the East Coast, meeting with local veterans’ groups and introducing the SHARE initiative to civilians. The Shepherd’s Men will make stops in the following cities:

-        Boston, Massachusetts
-        Newport, Rhode Island
-        New York, New York
-        Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
-        Lynchburg, Virginia
-        Knoxville, Tennessee
-        Nashville, Tennessee
-        Chattanooga, Tennessee
-        Athens, Georgia
-        Atlanta, Georgia

If you’re a Green Olive Media client, partner or friend in one of the above cities, we hope you will join us in supporting the Shepherd’s Men as they complete their run! You can donate to the SHARE initiative and learn more about the Shepherd’s Men here.

Vital Facts:
Who: Shepherd’s Men fundraising group
What: SHARE Military Initiative at Atlanta’s Shepherd Center
When: March 26 – April 3, 2016
Where: 10 cities on the east coast
Why: To provide funds for the 100% donor-supported SHARE initiative treating combat veterans
How: Donate money to SHARE, donate event-related items to Shepherd’s Men
Needs:
-        Hotel rooms for Shepherd’s Men in above cities
-        Running shoes and gear
-        Snacks, food, supplements for runners
-        Event space in above cities
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