Laura Luciano, right, presents a check for $1,000 to Jason Weiner of Almond restaurant.
Local governments are looking to permit outdoor dining where they haven’t before. That’s a good thing for Jason Weiner, chef/owner at Almond in Bridgehampton, who has been riding out the pandemic by serving takeout from his market next door three nights a week.
He applied for the payroll protection program, but the procedures and restrictions made the program hard to navigate. He still had to find a way to keep paying staff, including a long serving line cook, who had gotten sick.
“The grant was elemental,” says Weiner. “We used a good chunk of it for our cook, who lives in a multigenerational house and contracted COVID-19. And we used a piece for a program we’re continuing for school lunches.”
Almond is one of the eight restaurants — including the Bell & Anchor, Art of Eating, 18 Bay, Estia’s, Noah’s, Love Lane Kitchen, Nick & Toni’s — on the East End that SFEE has awarded a Snail of Approval.
“We want to support them,” says SFEE chair Pennie Schwartz, “because of all they do to support us.”
Earning a Snail of Approval is not an easy task. A restaurant, caterer or farm stand must be recommended by a SFEE member and then fill out an extensive form, before a vote by the board. According to our website, “Snail of Approval is awarded to businesses that incorporate the Slow Food ideals of Good, Clean & Fair food. When customers choose a restaurant awarded with the SoA, they know they are consuming quality food that is mostly local and sustainably raised or grown.”
“Slow Food is really part of a crew of fellow travelers of farmers and fishers and cooks on the East End,” says Weiner. “It gives us moral support and shares our values.” He adds, “We’re all spokes of the same wheel and Slow Food is one of the hubs.”