Sessions Public, a new American eatery in Point Loma, spent its second month in business raising funds for the San Diego Food Bank’s (SDFB) Backpack Program. With its doors open to welcome hungry patrons to the Voltaire Street location, the owners are also busily making a difference in the area’s hunger problem when it comes to undernourished children. Sessions Public donated $1 to the program from each order of its signature ribeye French fries sold in the month of August. The SDFB Backpack Program works with San Diego-area educators to identify schoolchildren who are hungry and in need of sustenance during weekends when school is not in session. The food bank prepares backpacks full of nonperishable items that children find in their cubbies or lockers at the end of the school day on Fridays. “These students, sometimes they are only getting one or two meals over the course of the weekend,” said Nancy Kaase, a second-grade teacher at Fay Elementary in San Diego who sees firsthand how this helps students. Nancy and her husband, Abel, are the owners of the new Sessions Public. “I wanted to be involved in the microcommunity of Point Loma and OB and in the greater community of San Diego as well,” Abel said. Nancy said hunger is commonplace at her school, even though the children come from hard-working families. “The children have chronic hunger,” Nancy said. She explained that the majority of students in her school are fed lunch and breakfast over the course of each school day. Sometimes she watches a student sneak an apple into his or her backpack to take it home to hungry family members. “It’s a great thing to see our restaurant serve this program because I see how valuable it is in my classroom,” Nancy said. She said the children are able to concentrate more on learning when their tummies are full. The cost to sponsor one child per year for this program is $250. The restaurant raised $181 in the month of August and will donate an additional $69 so it will be able to support one child for a year. Sessions Public is a neighborhood hilltop hideaway located at 4204 Voltaire St. Abel is a native of the Point Loma/Ocean Beach area. “I went to Sunset view Elementary and my daughter goes there now,” Abel said. Sessions Public offers taste treats The chefs at the eatery use organic and locally produced fare whenever possible, but not to the point of making items ridiculously priced, Abel said. “Our most unique item is the ribeye fries,” Abel said. One night when he and staff members were brainstorming in the kitchen, they conceived the unique menu item. “We had this really cool bowl, and our chef said it would be a great French-fry bowl,” Abel said. Then they decided to throw a ribeye steak on the french fries and add blue cheese and truffle oil. “It is a top-selling item,” Abel said. Guests enjoy the ribeye French fries whether they are sitting in the lively bar area located in the back of the establishment (near the chalkboard, upon which guests may doodle or play games), or in the warmer sit-down atmosphere in the front area. The quieter room in front boasts a 15-foot-by-6-foot wall graphic of giant bees and a honeycomb. The name Sessions Public came from the two notions of surf sessions and going out in public for drinks with friends. The menu offers an assortment of comfort food and craft ales. “It’s been really wonderful so far to see the same faces come in time and time again,” Abel said.