Ep. 7: Are We Going to Be OK? James Beard Award-winning Seattle chef says the community is his bailout

Chef Edourado Jordan turns Salare into a community kitchen and finds that being a big name doesn't protect his small businesses from the economic crisis of Covid-19.

Can the restaurant industry survive this pandemic? What can the world learn from a groundbreaking chef who’s returned to his community organizing roots during the Covid-19 lockdown? What do the fears and hopes look like for a business owner who is dependent on gathering people together in this era of social distancing?

In this hour, KUOW's Are We Going To Be OK? explores the power of community and the survival of the restaurant industry with Seattle’s James Beard Award-winning chef Edouardo Jordan. Chef Jordan also takes us through a deep dive into history and the surprising uses for paprika through his JuneBaby encyclopedia.

Chef Edouardo Jordan is the winner of the 2018 James Beard Award for Best Chef Northwest and Best New Restaurant for JuneBaby Restaurant. In December of 2018 he opened his third restaurant, Lucinda Grain Bar, which focuses on heirloom and local grains. Chef Jordan is also the owner of Salare, which was listed as a Best New Restaurant in America in 2016 by Eater National. Since March, Chef Jordan has transformed Salare into a Community Kitchen as a part of the Restaurant Workers Relief Program. So far, Salare has served hundreds of free to-go meals for restaurant workers who have been laid off or who have experienced a significant reduction in hours due to COVID-19.

To check out all of our Are We Going to Be OK? episodes, visit our series page at KUOW.org/OK.

Our Are We Going to Be OK? hosts are Jeannie Yandel and Zaki Hamid. This show is produced by Kristin Leong. Our events team is Charlotte Duren and Bridget Anderson. The show's graphics designer and tech guru is Teo Popescu. Our marketing manager is Michaela Gionnatti and our social media strategist is Juan Pablo Chiqiza.

This episode of Are We Going to Be OK? originally aired live on Facebook and YouTube on Thursday, May 21, 2020. This web story was originally published on June 24, 2020.