Running a restaurant is daunting in the best of times. Managing inventory, payroll, staffing and schedules while still focusing on customers’ needs is an unrelenting task. Throw in a federal invasion of ICE agents, and you have a recipe for disaster.
That’s why a new nonprofit initiative is stepping in to help. The Salt Cure Restaurant Recovery Fund is raising money to support businesses that have been hit hard by Operation Metro Surge, providing much-needed assistance before it’s too late.
“It’s a unique combination of factors,” said Stephanie March, local food journalist and co-founder of the Salt Cure Fund. “Winter is always a tough time for restaurants, but then the surge started, and everyone was worried about going out. Sales bottomed out. Workers were scared to go to work. That’s when I realized that we could be in a mass closure event.”
The Salt Cure Fund was established in late January, when the founders saw the writing on the wall that Minnesota’s restaurants were in jeopardy. They worked with the Minneapolis Foundation to administer the fund, collecting donations and distributing grants to recipients.
The “Salt Cure” name comes from a culinary preservation technique. March says their goal is to preserve something that is vital to Minnesota’s quality of life.
“We are fortunate to have a wide array of wonderful restaurants,” said March. “These businesses drive tourism to our state. They serve as ‘third places’ where people can gather outside of home and work. They also expose us to other cuisines and cultures in a way that makes us richer and more connected.”
Restaurants in Minnesota were already struggling before the ICE occupation.
The COVID pandemic and the murder of George Floyd forced many restaurants to close and pushed others to the brink.
After a long period of recovery, Metro Surge put the industry at risk once again. In January, hospitality revenue plummeted, with many businesses reporting drops of 50 to 80%.. This was on top of added operational expenses and uncertainty.
With federal agents patrolling the streets, many restaurant workers were no longer safe going to and from work. Owners had to step in and either pay for transportation for their workers or drive them to and from work themselves.
March said restaurant owners are, by their nature, service oriented, and that showed up in many ways during the ICE escalation.
“At the same time these restaurants were under siege, they were helping neighbors by becoming donation spots and raising funds to give to other organizations to aid people,” she said.
“They were doing this work in the community while losing their people and losing sales. That’s where we thought, ‘This can’t go unnoticed. We have to fix this at a level that can help sustain them.’”
The Salt Cure Fund provides needs-based grants to locally owned, independent restaurants. The money can be used to cover urgent operational costs for things like rent, payroll or equipment repairs. March said that in the first 60 days, the fund raised more than $1.2 million and had requests from more than 400 restaurants. They just completed their first round of dispersals, giving amounts ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 to more than 200 recipients across the state.
“It was really important to us that we didn’t just do one area. We had 31 different cities around the seven-county metro that we’ve been able to help so far,” said March. “It’s a wide variety of places, from small mom-and-pop food trucks, restaurants that have been around for decades, Somali restaurants in the Karmel Mall and places in the North Loop area. These are all businesses that are part of the fabric of this community.”
The money from the Salt Cure Fund stays local, benefiting other businesses such as farmers, fishmongers and cheese makers. March says restaurants are also an important path for creating generational wealth for immigrants or people who may not have a college education.
While Operation Metro Surge may be over, the crisis for many restaurants continues as business owners struggle to recover from an unprecedented challenge.
“ These businesses drive tourism to our state. They serve as ‘third places’ where people can gather outside of home and work. They also expose us to other cuisines and cultures in a way that makes us richer and more connected.”
March encourages people to contribute at thesaltcurefund.org. In addition, she says one of the best things you can do is to go out to eat.
“Getting people out, particularly during the midweek, is crucial right now,” she said. “Restaurants are still digging out, so if we can get some ‘butts in chairs’ across the metro that really helps.
Eating out on a Wednesday or Thursday is more vital than if you’re going on Fridays and Saturdays, which tend to be busy already. That is a boost that the local economy and the local restaurant industry need.”
Brian Lucas writes for the Hill & Lake Press. He lives in Kenwood.
