TAKE AWAY ONLY

Undocumented immigrants plant our seeds, harvest our crops and make our restaurants hum. Yet, they've been villainized, rounded up and caged. Andrew Zimmern, host of What's Eating America, joins us to discuss why this pandemic is the moment that must change immigration policy for good and why the future of our food depends on it. 

Days before the pandemic hit, Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz were celebrating their restaurant group's best first quarter ever and saw a banner year ahead. Now, the fate of their 23 Chicago restaurants is unknown. Hear how those restaurants have nevertheless rallied to feed medical workers and their community while Boehm and Katz have mobilized to fight for their company and their industry's near and long term health. 

At Copenhagen's Amass, Matt Orlando has established one of the most significant restaurant sustainability efforts in the world. He's gifted as a chef, but also as a problem solver. Now, facing the most difficult days of his career, Matt shares why the scariest moments for restaurants have yet to begin and why unparalleled open-mindedness, empathy and creativity may pave the path to survival. Fried chicken, he reveals, may be a big part of his future, too. 

In terms of government aid, Copenhagen restaurants have it better than most. But that doesn't make closures easy for those out of work. Rosio Sanchez, owner of Hija de Sanchez and Sanchez, both closed during this pandemic, gets vulnerable about staying sane and structured and keeping her restaurants afloat while taking care of her team. Rosio shares how she's learning to trust her gut amidst some of the most challenging conditions she's ever faced and learning to accept what can be controlled and what cannot. 

Sqirl and Onda's Jessica Koslow was slated to open a new restaurant this week, the much-anticipated Sqirl Away in Los Angeles. Instead, in conjunction with the Lee Initiative, she's opening a relief center to feed and provide basic supplies and groceries to hospitality workers in need. As Jessica and her team ramp up for an unexpected challenge, hear how she's exercising leadership, what made her break down and the utter importance to farmers of selling thousands of jars of Sqirl's inimitable jam.

Restaurants are Will Guidara's life. He grew up in a restaurant family and started working in a kitchen at the age of 12. It's the only thing he's ever done. Now, with his industry, and his identity, facing an uncertain future, Guidara is spending his days pursuing community and collaboration with unrelenting vigor and unprecedented humility. In this soulful testimonial, Guidara gets to the core of why we need restaurants--and why we need each other. 

Until last week, Ellen Bennett was best known for her cheery determination as the founder of Hedley & Bennett, a Los Angeles-based manufacturer of workwear for chefs and home cooks. Now, her factory has been converted to cut and sew masks for medical professionals in dire need of protection. Hear how Ellen modified her business at a breakneck pace, how she's interacting with the medical community and how 25,000-and-counting Wake Up & Fight masks are now making their way into the supply chain.

With a background in risk, Nick Kokonas started writing contingency plans early. Then he wrote a letter furloughing hundreds of employees and cried before taking aggressive measures to attack an unprecedented set of problems. Hear how Kokonas, the CEO and founder of Tock, and owner of five Chicago restaurants including Alinea, is reinventing operations--both physical and digital--to meet the moment for his own staff and for hundreds of restaurants around the world

When Camilla Marcus opened west~bourne, a neighborhood restaurant with a soulful mission, she already had a revolution in mind. Hear how she's channeled her leadership into battling for immediate and lasting government reform at the state and national levels and why such reform is so urgently needed for businesses and 15 million workers across the country in the wake of mass layoffs. Later in the show, Camilla shares how she's hanging on to her west~bourne team by launching an innovative, in-house educational platform. 

Greg and Max run Olmsted and Maison Yaki in Brooklyn. It's their dream business. Now, Greg and Max are fighting not only for their restaurants' survival, but for the survival of New York City's 250,000 hospitality jobs. Just a week ago, they formed the New York Hospitality Coalition to unite the city's hospitality businesses and workers in the pursuit of immediate and impactful government relief. Hear how Max, a self-proclaimed former "punk bus boy" and Greg, one of the most exciting chefs working today, are using their talents and their grit to bring a city together and grind their way to a collective solution.