MELISSA THOMPSON
Thank you, my hospitality heroes
Paying tribute to the lockdown heroes of the food industry
As life begins to unlock, many of us look forward to trying to forget the last 18 months of hardship and heartbreak. But what we mustn’t forget are the remarkable people whose selflessness supported others and brought both encouragement and joy. We saw it a lot in hospitality – an industry almost brought to its knees, yet one where people who had little gave so much. This is my tribute to just a handful of those heroes.
1 MERYL FERNANDES, The Duke of Richmond pub, Hackney
Marcus Rashford’s free school meals campaign (see p20) spurred Meryl Fernandes and her partner Tom Oldroyd into action. Meryl, an actor and television presenter, says: ‘We planned 60 meals per day. But then I put it on Instagram and the response was crazy – it got shared 7,000 times.’ That week, they served 1,200 free school meals. ‘The first woman who came to get food couldn’t look at us and went bright red. There’s a lot of shame attached to it.
‘People told me their stories. One woman had lost her job and so had her partner. Another girl, about 15, collected food for her brother but wouldn’t accept any for herself. She said she was having one Pot Noodle a day so it was “fine”. We gave her a bag of food and some shopping, and she came back with a thank you card.’ Now, the soup kitchen runs every Tuesday and another 1,500 packed lunches were provided during half term. There are also fortnightly burgers for local NHS staff. Meryl says: ‘The need is so big. There‘s so much more to do.’
2 NAZ ISLAM, Saffron restaurant, Northampton
A restaurateur for more than 20 years, Naz Islam was quick to step up when the impact of coronavirus became apparent. He and his team turned to what they knew best – food. Over the course of the pandemic, Saffron
Indian restaurant donated more than 10,000 meals of onion bhaji, chicken tikka masala and pilau rice to frontline workers. As well as NHS staff, they included care home staff and teachers. Naz explains: ‘We tried to include as many people as possible. We work closely with the community and wanted to give something back.’ Supporting teachers was particularly important to Naz, a father-of-two. ‘They’re taking a big risk to educate our children. It must have scared them. And care home staff weren’t getting any recognition yet and were so well-deserving.’
3 MARVALYN JOHNSON, Sunlight Caribbean Restaurant, Hackney
Marvalyn Johnson already donated food to her local soup kitchen in Hackney, London, when the pandemic struck. So when the Storehouse, run by pastor Errol Francis at Regent’s Chapel, had to close because of restrictions, Marvalyn offered to run it from her Sunlight Caribbean Restaurant instead. ‘Every Wednesday we donate at least 30 meals,’ says Marvalyn. ‘It comes out of our own pocket and it hasn’t been easy because our business has really suffered in the pandemic. The soup kitchen closed but people are still going to be hungry. Where else are they going to get the food they were getting before?’ Sunlight offers curried goat, oxtail, stewed chicken and jerk chicken. Marvalyn says: ‘I’m not from a rich family and I’ve been through a lot. So I get it. There is one family who come and they don’t have anything. They text me saying thanks, that I’ve no idea what we’ve done for them. A pensioner heard about what we were doing and sent us a £10 cheque. When you’re down, those gestures lift you. I haven’t cashed that cheque – I’ve kept it and when I’m feeling down, I look at
4 AINE MORRIS, Bristol Food Union
It was clear to Aine Morris that the virus’s impact would be potentially devastating to both the industry, and the city’s most vulnerable. Aine met with her contacts in Bristol’s hospitality community. ‘We asked, “What can we all do together?’’’ says Aine.
A joined-up approach was needed. They created a restaurant collective, Bristol Food Union, and launched a crowdfunding campaign that raised £150,000.
But rather than buy food for frontline staff and vulnerable people, they paid restaurateurs to cook meals instead. ‘It kept some chefs in kitchens and some of that income moving through supply chains.’ They also arranged food parcels, and their clients included the city’s most vulnerable, including refugees, asylum seekers and people leaving foster care. Notably, the union asked no questions of those who sought its assistance. ‘We worked on the principle that if you have to ask someone for help with food, we trusted you had good reason for needing it. A nine-year-old child called on behalf of their mother who didn’t speak English. They hadn’t eaten for three days. It was emotional. After one day doing deliveries, I came back and cried at how desperate the situation seemed.
‘Lots of people live in bubbles. It’s difficult to understand what you don’t see.’
5 DAVID MAGUIRE, 1051 GWR restaurant in Glasgow
Chatting to six nurses on the first day of the initial lockdown, restaurateur David Maguire was struck by their bravery. ‘No one knew much about Covid then,’ he says, ‘and the nurses were discussing how dangerous it might be, but that was just their job. ‘They were being very Glasweigian about it.’ 1051 GWR had transformed from a dine-in gastro pub to a takeaway over the weekend lockdown was announced. David refused to charge the nurses, then told them to send their colleagues. ‘They’d come to us because their own canteens and coffee shops were closed because of the outbreak. So we couldn’t charge them.’ Before long they were making several hundred meals a day. ‘Serving them a proper, hot homemade meal was really important to us.’ They launched a crowdfunding campaign, including a sizeable donation from David’s own pocket, to run the operation. ‘We raised about £75,000 and provided well over 100,000 meals,’ he says.
David had to borrow an additional pizza oven and a refrigerated truck to store the extra ingredients. The team fed all hospital staff and expanded out to support homeless people who had been given basic accommodation with no cooking facilities. ‘When I think back, I can’t quite believe it. It was a massive team effort. Everyone came together to support people who needed it.’