When Governor Gretchen Whitmer restricted restaurants to pick-up or delivery only, a few places decided to temporarily close. But many are trying to be nimble and stay in business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Karen Kahn is a co-owner of a vegan restaurant in Hamtramck. She says she’s watching her fellow-restauranteurs working hard to keep going.
“I'm very proud of them because it's staying positive in this environment. I really feel that if I had to close my doors, I don't know what I would do. You know?”
She is co-owner of the Nosh Pit. It is a vegan restaurant, food truck, and catering service. Now it’s limited to pick-up orders at the restaurant.
Nosh Pit had to lay off staff and it still wasn’t enough. Some of those staff members are now working as volunteers at the restaurant.
Kahn welcomed a German food pop-up called DeutschTroit and another food truck she’s invested in called Crepe Day Twah to work in the Nosh Pit kitchen and share expenses.
“So we went from just being a vegan restaurant to allowing these other two restaurants to function out of our kitchen because it's what we have to do.”
The three businesses are hoping an expanded Nosh Pit menu will help them all get through the COVID-19 outbreak.
Updated to correct the spelling of DeutschTroit.
