6 JULY 2020
EDITOR’SLETTERWHAT DO YOU MISS MOST about restaurants right now?
I miss the anticipation, the hum, the smells, the glow.
I miss how restaurants restore me, whether it’s tacos
at a picnic table after a five-and-a-half-hour flight to
LAX or a dozen oysters at the counter of my local after
work. Most of all, I miss the hospitality of restaurant
people, their generosity.
This spring, I witnessed that big-hearted spirit more
than ever, as food industry leaders met the pandemic
with acts of heroism: Chefs turned their restaurants
into community kitchens; spirits manufacturers dis-
tilled hand sanitizer in addition to vodka. Thousands
came up with new business plans literally overnight
(including F&W deputy editor and café owner Mel
Hansche—read her story on p. 71).
Yet in spite of all the scrappy innovation, the state of
the nearly $1 trillion restaurant economy—one that
makes up an estimated 4% of America’s GDP and em-
ploys 15.6 million people—remains unstable. While the
dimmer lights slowly turn back on in some states along with new restrictions for dining in, more
than 8 million restaurant workers remain unemployed. Some of your favorite places won’t reopen.
What happens to them impacts us all. Restaurants are a foundation of the American economy. In
a piece he wrote recently for foodandwine.com, restaurateur Bobby Stuckey, who closed his Colorado
establishments in March to protect the safety of his customers and employees, wrote: “The restaurant
industry [indirectly] employs tens of millions more people, including the farmers, packers, beverage
distributors, and delivery people up and down the food supply and delivery chain who depend on
our revenue to stay in business. If we can’t open for business, this supply chain won’t last.”
So what’s the way forward out of this mess? And what will restaurants look like on the other side?
In mid-March, our team here at F&W tore up the original plans for this issue in an effort to find out.
Working from our homes, we commissioned and reported new stories and asked food industry
leaders to share their visions for the future. The more phone calls we made, the more our optimism
grew. It turns out that the toughness and grace that makes restaurant people so hospitable makes
them resilient, too. (Read what they had to say in “Too Small to Fail” on p. 71.)
We found hope in the 2020 class of F&W Best New Chefs—10 talents who make some of the sharpest,
most forward-thinking, and most satisfying food in America. For 32 years, the accolade has celebrated
not only the best cooking of the day, but also the culinary leaders of tomorrow. This year’s class, the
first selected by Restaurant Editor Khushbu Shah, is no different. (Meet the BNCs on p. 78). We heard
a rallying cry from BNC Tavel Bristol-Joseph, co-owner and executive pastry chef at five Austin restau-
rants, who sees the challenges facing his generation as an opportunity to lead the industry forward: “I
don’t want to adapt to the change,” he told us. “I want to be the change.”
We also found inspiration in our kitchens and the recipes from BNC alumni in Handbook (p. 17).
The business word of 2020 is “pivot;” the food word may be “sourdough,” based on the sheer number
of gorgeous loaves we’re seeing on Instagram. Whatever comes out of this pandemic, I’m hopeful
that we’ll share a deeper appreciation for the costs of good ingredients like freshly milled whole
grains and the days-long process it takes to make food like good bread.
Let’s not waste the lessons that adversity teaches us. Let’s come out of this crisis with a new un-
derstanding of the true costs of operating the restaurants
we miss. Let’s show more hospitality to the people who
cook for us and the people who serve us. Let’s start there.
The future of restaurants will depend on all of us.The WayForward- START LOCAL
Spend what your budget
will allow at your favorite
independent local res-
taurants. Tip more than
20%. Buy merch. Follow
their guidelines for dining
safely. - SKIP THE
THIRD PARTY
Order delivery directly
from restaurants rather
than using apps like Uber
Eats and Postmates
because they charge
restaurants up to 30% of
the bill. - DEMAND ACTION
The Paycheck Protection
Program from the CARES
Act was only an eight-
week solution for some
businesses. Support the
Independent Restaurant
Coalition by calling or
emailing your congress-
people and urging them
to back a new restaurant
stabilization fund. (Read
more about the IRC on
p. 76 and at save
restaurants.com.) - VOTE WITH
YOUR FORK
Support restaurants that
buy from local farmers,
whose businesses are
also suffering, and buy
directly from those local
farmers at your farmers
market, too. - DONATE
If you have the means,
give to an organization
providing relief to restau-
rant employees in crisis.
We’ve partnered with
Southern Smoke Foun-
dation in support of the
food and beverage indus-
try. (Donate at southern
smoke.org/support and
learn more on p. 112).
5 Ways You
Can Support
Restaurants
TodaySubscription Help: foodandwine.
com/myaccount or email us at
[email protected]
or call 1-800-333-6569.HUNTER LEWIS
@NOTESFROMACOOK
[email protected]photography by RAMONA ROSALES