Local cooks and kitchen staff are out of work. Vulnerable populations are in need of food assistance. So why not put two and two together?
Well, that’s exactly what a homegrown effort called Save the Food, Serve the People has done.
For about a month, local cooks unemployed because of the coronavirus outbreak have been meeting at the closed Cantera Restaurant, where they prepare food acquired through grants and donations to be distributed to needy people and families.
Blaine Bailey, one of the organizers, said the crews cook 150 meals per day, four days a week from Tuesday to Friday.
From there, the food is distributed to organizations such as the Durango Food Bank, Pine River Shares, La Plata County Senior Center, Durango School District 9-R and Ignacio Mutual Aid, among others.
Bailey said that when the effort started, the food was sourced from restaurants forced to close on short notice and would have gone to waste. Now, however, organizers have secured funding from grants and private donations to buy the food for the 600 meals a week.
But the program doesn’t just benefit people in the community in need of a good meal.
Save the Food, Serve the People was able to obtain $10,000 from the Community Emergency Relief Fund to help with its emergency relief efforts. CERF is managed by the Community Foundation Serving Southwest Colorado.
As a result, organizers are able to pay out-of-work kitchen crew members $15 an hour for 25 to 30 hours a week. Bailey said crews are rotated each week to help the most amount of people unemployed.
Gov. Jared Polis closed all restaurants in the state March 16 in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus. While some local eateries have been offering takeout and delivery, others have chosen to close, leaving many out of work.
“These people are all from numerous restaurants in town,” he said. “So we want to try and spread the money love.”
Beto Navarro, owner of Cantera, said he offered his downtown restaurant as the central cooking place for the effort.
“I was thinking of ways to help the community during all this,” Navarro said. “And we’re closed anyway, so it may as well be used for a good purpose.”
Jim Carver, owner of Carver Brewing Co., which also is closed, was approached about making baked goods. Now, he’s churning out bread rolls, biscuits, baked potatoes and sandwich buns on a weekly basis.
“Carver’s used to be a bakery,” he said. “And I’m happy for this food to go to needy people.”
The main hub of activity, however, is at Cantera, where a crew of about four to five people meet to cook the meals.
Giordano Ascenzi, a sous chef at El Moro Spirits and Tavern, said most people helping out are local cooks who need some extra cash during the shutdown.
“This helps people keep some money in their pockets, while at the same time, getting people fed,” he said.
Ascenzi said a tight-knit community has formed between the cooks from other restaurants. Having the work, which serves a good cause, has also helped people get through uncertain times during the pandemic.
“People are getting paid to help, but most workers want to stick around, even after there is no pay,” he said. “They just love being in the kitchen and helping out with some good chefs around town.”
The freedom to make food without the pressure of hungry customers waiting has also created an environment between the cooks to share recipes and exchange ideas about new plates.
Bailey said the menu has run the gamut – from pork green chili with rice and beans to chicken sandwiches with bread from Carver’s to pulled pork burritos.
“Some of the town’s top chefs are cooking this food,” Bailey said. “So it’s not just cafeteria food going out, it’s freaking delicious.”
Save the Food, Serve the People has enough funding to operate until May 22, Bailey said, by which time, restaurants hope to reopen.
Polis has said bars and restaurants may be able to reopen in mid-May, but no date had been set as of Wednesday.
jromeo @durangoherald.com
