As if they weren’t already busy enough scrambling to maintain their own restaurants during the Coronavirus crisis, chefs have somehow found the time to support their local communities by cooking meals for people in need of sustenance during these tough times. On a national basis, Louisville chef Edward Lee has started up an initiative he calls The Restaurant Workers Relief Program in partnership with Maker’s Mark as part of The Lee Initiative as a way to provide meals to displaced hospitality workers. Begun in Louisville, Lee has expanded the program to restaurants in 19 American cities across the nation which have transformed themselves into relief kitchens to provide nourishing meals using ingredients donated or sourced from local farmers and purveyors using funds raised by The Lee Initiative.

In a recent interview with The Local Palate, Lee explained his motivation behind this herculean effort: “If someone’s not taking care of me, I’m not going to want to come back to this job, this industry. What happened to family? For so many of us, there’s only so much you can do. Everyone’s in a bad situation, so when we started this program at least it’s a way for me to just say to my crew and to the people in Louisville where we started this program ‘I see you. I understand the struggle, and it’s not a hell of a lot, but it’s something.”

Lee describes how important these meals have been for restaurant workers in peril, saying, “When we started this six weeks ago, no one knew what was going on, and people were really worried and panicking. Sometimes having a place to go to becomes a routine. We still have people who come every night. For a lot of them, it’s like the one thing they look forward to: grabbing a meal, chit chatting a little bit and catching up. Beyond the food and the supplies, it offers people hope. It gives them a little sense of normalcy throughout all this craziness, and sometimes that’s all you need is a sense of community and togetherness and humanity. It’s what restaurants are; it’s what we do. We’re a place of community. It’s just different now. You see the same people every day, and it becomes a new normal. It may be that all a person needs to not do something irrational or make a bad decision is to know that there’s a community out there that cares about you and is helping you. We’re doing all we can.”

In Nashville, chef Sarah Gavigan has stepped forward to offer up her restaurant Otaku To-Go in East Nashville at 604 Gallatin Ave. as the distribution point for these free meals. Gavigan and her staff have committed to preparing up to 250 meals per night, Wednesday through Sunday, at least until the end of May. Meals can be picked up between 3:00 and 5:00 on the days of operation. Gavigan is proud of her staff’s participation. She shares, "In a time of so much uncertainty for our fellow hospitality industry professionals, our team at Otaku Ramen is committed and honored to feed as many people as possible to those affected here in Nashville."

Several other Nashville chefs have volunteered their time to partner with Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee to fund hourly workers at local restaurants, and in return also provide meals to those in our community who are currently struggling. The chefs participating in this initiative are some of the most beloved and respected in Nashville:

Sean Brock – Joyland

Matt Bolus – 404 Kitchen

David Jackman – Catbird Seat

Derek Brooks – Capitol Grille at The Hermitage Hotel

Mark Rose – Graduate Hotel Nashville

Margot McCormack – Margot Café & Bar, Marche Artisan Foods

The restaurants are preparing to-go meals packaged up for travel, and Second Harvest organizes the logistics with Sysco to pick up the food and distribute it to the partner agencies selected by Second Harvest: Hillcrest United Methodist Church, Martha O’Bryan Center, Elevate Madison Ministry, Catholic Charities, and Hermitage Hills/Radical Hearts. The meals will be given to the clients who visit these organizations looking for assistance. Now that Nashville restaurants are beginning to crack open their doors for dining in again, please remember these dedicated individuals who spent their downtime contributing so much to the community!