White Plains restaurant crowdfunds for $75K to stay in business

A struggling restaurant in downtown White Plains has turned to crowdfunding to seek the money needed to keep its operations afloat.

19 Court Artisan Foods at 19 Court St. has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise $75,000 by May 28. The restaurant, which opened last September by the married couple Rahsaan and Shelly White, describes itself as being part of “the slow food movement, carefully preparing our dishes using only fresh, farm-to-table ingredients.” In addition to a menu mix of pizzas, sushi, poke bowls and vegan delicacies, 19 Court also offers catering and a Sunday brunch with live jazz music.

“Rent and operating costs have gotten away from us as our revenue is not close to what we need to keep the business open,” the GoFundMe campaign page stated. “We opened with passion, vigorous work ethics and a dream; without the backing and capital that larger companies have the luxury of and availability of funds to cover costs. We are Small Business. We are Minority Business. We are husband and wife together for 24 years with four children and one grandchild. We are the Executive Chef and Management…just the two of us. We have a great staff of 8 who are riding this out with us.”

As of this morning, the GoFundMe campaign raised $1,245.