RESTAURANTS & VENUES PITCH IN
Along with hotels, restaurants have been hit hard by pandemic restrictions. Faced with capacity limits as well as restrictions on opening hours, one local restaurant owner saw the plight of his fellow business owners and decided to step in.
The CEO of Jimmy’ s Famous Seafood— known for its Maryland crab cakes and steamed crabs( of course)— restaurateur John Minadakis decided to help his competitors and created a GoFundMe campaign to support the city’ s restaurants and bars. The fund, started in January 2021, became known as“ The Famous Fund,” and has since raised more than $ 460,000, with supporters including businessman Marcus Lemonis( contributing $ 60,000); Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey($ 10,000); as well as more than 2,000 businesses and people around the region coming together to support their favorite local eateries. Altogether, the fund has helped dozens of Charm City businesses, including Pickles Pub, a long-time favorite place to watch sports games, and The Urban Oyster( remember its original location had to be closed).
STEP UP
Want to make your own contribution? Visit TheFamousFund. com.
Mera Kitchen Collective( a“ for-profitcooperative” that works to empower chefs from around the world) and Alma Cocina
Latina( which offers a menu“ inspired by Venezuelan culinary roots”) began a partnership days after the March 2020 lockdown.
“ This collaborative commitment, holistic as a concept, addresses food apartheid by providing delicious and well-balanced meals for the underserved communities in Baltimore, with a priority given to the health of each individual and the planet,” explained founder Irena Stein.
This past winter, Alma Cocina Latina was open at just 25 percent capacity in observance of COVID-19 protocols( like other city businesses), and Mera Kitchen Collective was offering menus for takeout( as opposed to its former pop-up events). And, yet, as Stein confirms, the two entities have served 105,000 of these meals.
Alma Cocina Latina offers a dine-in menu, which at press time featured everything from cassava bread and red snapper ceviche to Latin paella. The latter boasts caramelized bomba rice, grilled Madagascar shrimp, red Argentinian shrimp, octopus, squid and a Mexican spicy chorizo base, jalapeño slices, citrus aioli, sweet garlic emulsion, pine nuts and tomato vinegar dressing. Or order from the takeout menu, which is a bit more limited, but as of this writing offered both the cassava bread and paella, along with coconut flan for dessert.
38 BALTIMORE. ORG
DEAN RAY