First-Class Feast on Street : ‘Bleus Brothers’ Spread Cheer to Texas Homeless

One of the more elegant catered affairs in Texas takes place this Christmas Eve beneath a downtown street overpass, compliments of the Cordon Bleus Brothers who believe in feeding the homeless in high style.

Prime rib heads an elaborate menu that includes an array of sophisticated desserts some of the best places in San Antonio usually serve in unarguably nicer settings.

But the Brothers make do by hanging festive lights from the concrete and setting trucked-in tables with fine cloths and turning up the music--blues selections, of course--to drown out the passing traffic.

Anonymity is the motto of this group of white collar professionals, who last year fed 600 of the city’s homeless.

First-Class Dining

“Basically, it’s a group of folks who like to get together and have fun and do some good in the process. The whole point is to give the taste of a first-class eating experience to people who honestly don’t have that opportunity. That was the idea--to go first class in every way,” said Brother John, one of the group’s members.

The group’s members refuse to publicly disclose their names or businesses.

“Anonymity, that’s very important. To me it ensures if you’re doing it, you’re doing it for the right reason and not to impress someone,” said Brother John.

The group does impose a dress code, but only on its own members.

The Cordon Bleus Brothers, many of whom are in the food-service business, are longtime fans of the Blues Brothers, the musical group featured in the movie of the same name that starred comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi.

The Cordon Bleus Brothers would don crumpled 60s-style blues musician attire--skinny black ties, dark glasses, crumpled suits and fedoras and white socks--in honor of their movie models.

“We’d raise hell and dress up like the Blues Brothers because we like to dance and listen to blues music. We’d raise a little money for the San Antonio Symphony when they were in trouble. In the movie, the Blues Brothers were trying to get their band back together,” said the group’s leader, Brother Jake.

Last year, they came up with a different idea.

“For years I’ve always said I wasn’t going to do Christmas the way we’d been doing Christmas--everybody giving everybody a bunch of presents they don’t need,” Brother Jake said.

“Last year I said I’m going to spend Christmas Eve under a bridge feeding the homeless. They decided it was a better deal than supporting the symphony since they’ve got a lot of rich people helping them,” he said.

‘It’s a Party’

Restaurants, hotels, wholesalers and friends with cash in their pockets were enlisted.

“It’s a party, and it’s something we want them to be able to remember as nice a deal as they’ve ever gone to,” said Brother Jake. “I’m in the catering business, and it’s as nice a party as we do for anyone else.”

The West Commerce Street bridge was picked because it was a known gathering place for many of the city’s homeless. One of the city’s larger shelters for the homeless was nearby. Vehicles were used to transport some of the evening’s diners from shelters on other sides of town.

Blues Brothers outfits were mandatory for each of the group’s 30 or so members who showed up to wait tables, cook and deliver food or guests.

“You have to be in uniform or you get fined,” Brother Jake said.

“The tapes we play we put together out of selected tunes from blues musicians, Christmas carols or not,” he said.

The Brothers relied on handbills and word-of-mouth to spread the word about their first Christmas Eve feast.

“This year, the response is incredible. A lot of people want to go down and help out,” said Brother Jake, whose group last year found itself short of volunteers for the kind of duty integral to any good party.

“Last year we had plenty of people to serve the food,” he said. “What we didn’t have was enough people to make it a party, circulate, press flesh and make people welcome.”