Photograph by Lyric Lewin
Juicy, thick filet mignon steaks were sizzling on the grill, soups were bubbling on the stove, fresh pasta was rolled, and pizza dough was spun. The chefs at Double Zero were cooking what looked like a feast, but these meals weren’t for customers. The dining room was empty.
With thousands of dollars worth of produce and meats in their fridges, Double Zero and the other restaurants belonging to Castellucci Hospitality Group (the Iberian Pig, Cooks & Soldiers, Bar Mercado, Recess, and Sugo), as well as ones across Atlanta and beyond, were quickly trying to use up their supplies and hand out free meals to hourly restaurant workers—who will likely be without work for the foreseeable future.
Photograph by Lyric Lewin
Photograph by Lyric Lewin
Photograph by Lyric Lewin
On Thursday afternoon, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms ordered the closure of restaurants (among other businesses) within city limits in an effort to slow down the spread of COVID-19. Chef Victoria Shore of Recess quickly decided to use the supplies in CHG’s kitchens for a good cause. “There’s just so much food that’s not going to get sold because of this,” Shore says, “and so many people are out of work and money. I have a lot of staff members who have families and small kids and are living paycheck to paycheck. Hopefully this will help.”
Almost every Atlanta restaurant is scrambling to find whatever safety net they can for their staff and find uses for their food supplies, whether by giving workers free meals, seeking donations for them, or offering the public curbside pick-up, take-out, or delivery (with the hope the restaurant is able to preserve what few jobs it can). Cafe Intermezzo gave away free meals on Wednesday and Thursday to restaurant industry workers. Ladybird Grove and Mess Hall created the #ATLFamilyMeal hashtag to collect resources for its employees and those of other restaurants. Chef Mimmo of Red Pepper Taqueria is using his closed restaurant kitchen to keep staff working to help feed the homeless.
Photograph by Lyric Lewin
Photograph by Lyric Lewin
The reality is that many restaurants will not reopen, even after the scourge of COVID-19 lifts. “Our job as a company has and always will be to serve the community and our people,” says Federico Castellucci, CEO of CHG. “These aren’t people who sit in offices all day collecting paychecks. They often do not have enough savings to weather a disaster like this. Right now, every day is a battle, and we have kept our restaurants open despite great financial pressure. We won’t go down without a fight.”
Photograph by Lyric Lewin
By Thursday afternoon, Shore, along with Double Zero executive sous chef Zachary Lanier and several other CHG employees, had a pile of boxed meals set on a makeshift table near the front of the restaurant. The doors to Double Zero were open, and CHG employees and other restaurant workers—who weeks earlier had what seemed like stable jobs—began to trickle in to pick up the small lifeline extended to them. They almost all introduced themselves by the restaurants they had worked at. “Thanks so much for doing this” and “stay healthy” were on repeat as they shuffled through the short line to pack up their paper bags with food.
Some of them stuck around for a few minutes to catch up. Others offered support: “If you’re doing this again, let me know and I can come in and help cook.”
Photograph by Lyric Lewin
Lanier points out that customers who are ordering food to-go or by delivery from CHG’s restaurants are helping the businesses survive and allowing them to do whatever they can for their employees. “We’re just trying to reach all avenues to stay afloat,” he says. “One thing that’s giving me hope right now is that everyone must eat.”
The restaurants are getting extra creative by selling to customers the restaurant’s supply of toilet paper.
“One good that will come out of this is the appreciation we have for each other,” Castellucci says, “and the many many things we take for granted every day.”
Correction: This story has been amended to reflect that Castellucci Hospitality Group handed out food to restaurant workers at large, not just its own employees.
