How will restaurants survive the economic collapse caused by the COVID-19 pandemic? Award-winning Washington DC chef Kwame Onwuachi (formerly of Kith/Kin) talks about how COVID 19 has exposed the vulnerabilities of the restaurant industry and the fundamental changes needed for independent restaurants to survive. “I would hope we don’t just go back to the same normal, that we create a new normal that really makes sure that we’re taking care of our staff and our community as well as the bottom line,” says Onwauchi. In his memoir Notes from a Young Black Chef and a recent article in The Washington Post, Onwuachi confronts issues of race and diversity in the culinary world. “Investors and owners have constantly pushed me to do what they think is right, instead of what was authentic to me,” he wrote in the Post. “I try to speak my mind and speak truthfully,” he says.
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