A dash of Hollywood went into The Open Door’s community meal Friday evening when actor Harry Hamlin took part in preparing and serving food for the weekly gathering.
The aromas of “Harry’s Famous Sauce,” a rosemary red wine recipe, permeated the kitchen of the Gloucester nonprofit’s home base. This sauce was made famous on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” And now Hamlin has had a “culinary moment” in the heart of the nation’s oldest fishing port.
Hamlin and his niece, Renee Guilbault, an Open Door volunteer and professional chef, made 28 gallons of his pasta sauce that became the main course of Friday’s Bolognese dinner. He not only rolled up his sleeves to cook and stir and taste, but he surprised the diners when he stood behind the counter to give out the meals.
In his long career, Hamlin has starred in numerous television shows and films including “In the Kitchen with Harry Hamlin,” “Mayfair Witches,” “L.A. Law” and “Mad Men.”
Earlier this year, Hamlin and Guilbault, a 25-year industry executive, launched The Open Food Company, founded to give back. Since September, the new food company has given away $80,000 to its partner charities among which is The Open Door.
Other organizations working to alleviate hunger that have benefited are the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, Food Bank for New York City, and Project Angel Food in West Hollywood.
“We’re excited about this but we also need to look at the root causes of hunger,” said Hamlin, who chatted easily with others as they cooked in the kitchen. He also chatted with diners at their tables, and thanked them and wished them all a happy holiday season.
Gloucester’s Connie Condon, 92, had a surprise when she attended the meal, and saw the famous face among The Open Door crew.
“I think it’s a wonderful thing that he’s doing. I’ve tasted the sauce — and I loved it,” said Condon, a long-time fan of Hamlin.
President and CEO Julie LaFontaine was among the staff gathered behind the scenes to watch Hamlin stir the pot — literally.
“We’re so thankful to have been chosen by The Open Food Company as a beneficiary, and to Renee and Harry for seeing the impact of our mission and supporting our work to feed local people with fresh, healthy food,” she said.
The Open Door’s Community Meals program is free, and all are welcome.
This program resumed in-person dining in February after The Open Door’s capital campaign building project was completed. Meals are offered Monday through Friday, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., and include salad bar, main dish and sides, coffee, tea, water and dessert. Meals “to go” also are offered.
“Certain dishes attract more folks, like pasta dishes, and we’re always encouraging more folks to join us for a free, hot meal and company,” LaFontaine said.
Hamlin and Guilbault’s new business is the first open-source food company, according to the company’s website.
“We’re here because we believe the food world needs a revolution — for good. We are building this family business to make real food more transparent and accessible to all,” according to the website.
It defines “open-source” as meaning the company makes the ingredients and recipe available to everyone so they understand the ingredients and cooking methods involved, and can make it themselves if they choose. The recipe and video, are available at harrysfamous.com where the sauce can also be ordered.
“We believe that for-profit businesses should ‘give back’ in meaningful ways and we want to become a proof-point to demonstrate this is not only possible, but deeply impactful when it is baked into the business model from the beginning (yes, pun intended!),” the website says.
When “Uncle Harry” raised the idea of bringing his sauce to the market to his niece, Guilbault, who now lives in Gloucester, saw an opportunity to make change.
“I knew we needed to do something new — to give away the recipe and the method to make it,” she said.
Hamlin took a culinary leap of faith and made an impactful business move.
“When you come into an overcrowded industry with little innovation, you have to be bold and he is eager to use his celebrity for good,” Guilbault said. “We want to create our product exactly as you would make it at home, and that is our open source. We want people to know exactly what is in their food.”
Hamlin said that the origins of this sauce started when he lived in Rome in the 1980s, and it evolved later in Beverly Hills.
“It’s a red wine sauce and very different,” Guilbault said.
And if you’re wondering what was for dessert — it was cannoli, a natural choice for Gloucester.