No profit, but enthusiastic: how the Georgian restaurant in Brooklyn works during quarantine

A small Georgian restaurant in New York decided not to close during the quarantine period. Instead, he began making free food for doctors, firefighters, and police officers. This is stated in the video of the publication "Voice of America".

Quarantine work

The family restaurant Cheeseboat in Brooklyn is run by the Davitashvili sisters, and the kitchen is run by their mother. New Yorkers have appreciated Georgian cuisine. But this restaurant has gone further, adapting it to the tastes and habits of the inhabitants of the metropolis. “We thought for a long time, and in the end we introduced several American chefs to Georgian traditional dishes,” said Mariam Davitashvili, co-owner of the restaurant. - They offered them to come up with something based on Adjarian khachapuri. Now the restaurant offers its visitors an assortment of 20 types of cheese boats.

Gradually, the institution became more and more popular among customers. Later they started talking about him in the press. The business was going uphill, and the orders did not have time to prepare. And then the quarantine began. According to Mariam, the crisis crept up unnoticed. “We did not stop working for a single day. Now we are preparing for delivery, ”she said.

This does not bring profit: everything that manages to earn only covers some costs, the co-owner noted.

The restaurant has lowered prices for some dishes to make them even more affordable. "It's not easy for everyone now," Davitashvili explained this decision.

The co-owner and chef of the restaurant, Katie Davitashvili, said that the restaurant takes care of its employees. And although they don’t work now, they get wages.

Charity

To support the city's life support workers - medical workers, firefighters, police officers - the restaurant began delivering food to them. The first day, when they brought food to the workers of the neighboring hospital, Mariam remembered well. “We went into the emergency room and all the doctors, nurses, assistants were dressed in spacesuits and looked like astronauts,” she recalls. - I was shocked. And they were so happy to see us, they called us angels ”.

Such charitable activity, according to the co-owner of the institution, gives “priceless emotions”. “I think they helped me survive,” she said.

Despite the quarantine, the restaurant is open seven days a week. The constraints felt by the townspeople also have good consequences. For example, the restaurant employees were able to get to know their neighbors, which was not enough time before. After all, the inhabitants of the Big Apple are always in a hurry somewhere, and the pandemic has forced many to slow down and just look around. “It's so touching, human relations,” said the co-owner of the restaurant. - I even forget that there has been no business for two months. We work as volunteers. "

New York continues to pause, so that the previously packed halls are still far away. But even at the end of quarantine, restaurants will not be able to earn immediately at full capacity, since the number of visitors will be limited by the need to maintain a social distance. However, there is good news for the Cheeseboat restaurant: they plan to close the street on which it is located for the whole weekend. These days, the institution will be able to take out tables to receive guests in a safe environment for everyone.

Recall that starting May 16, New York State began to gradually ease quarantine restrictions. This was allowed to the regions that fulfilled the seven criteria stipulated by the plan of Governor Andrew Cuomo. However restaurants will return to work one of the last.