After hard times, restaurant owner warms hearts in Richmond with love

Menbere Aklilu, owner of the Richmond restaurant Salute E Vita, sits for a photograph at her desk. (Photo by Brittany Kirstin)

Menbere Aklilu has come a long way. From a struggling single mother, she is now a restaurant owner in Richmond, after moving from her native Ethiopia and a time in Italy.

Aklilu hosts an annual Thanksgiving dinner at her restaurant, Salute E Vita, where she just served a sit-down dinner for more than a thousand Bay Area homeless people. She has also begun holding a four-course Mother’s Day brunch for young single mothers. She helps Richmond and Oakland students pay school tuition.

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