Staying Fit
Chef Navjot Arora, 51, owns Chutney Masala and Sambal, two restaurants in Irvington, New York.
Randy Harris
I’ve been through many upheavals, including the 2008 financial crash that laid off so many people, and Hurricane Sandy, which shut my business for six weeks.
But this is different. Besides the very real fear for our health — my family, my employees at two restaurants in Westchester County, New York — we’re seeing mind-boggling numbers of people laid off, with no money for food.
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That’s why fellow restaurateurs in my area started a challenge to prepare a million gallons of soup. People ask, “Why soup?” It’s practical. It’s healthy. It freezes well, and it’s easy to transport and bring up to the right temperature. But it’s comforting, too. It’s what we like to eat in times of distress and sickness. Everyone turns to soup when they’re down.
Luckily, I had the skill set already. Along with years in restaurants, I’ve worked in airline catering, making as many as 14,000 meals a day. I’ve got the time and the energy. And in times of distress, the only thing that will help us through is basic human decency. The people who are part of this challenge are just trying to do the right thing.
It’s been amazing to see how quickly the project has come together. That first day, I cooked up a batch of soup in my restaurant in a 10-gallon stockpot. Then the local brewery offered us access to its kettles, which we use to cook on a larger scale. The brewery is right across the street from a food bank called Feeding Westchester, where the National Guard is working to help distribute food.
So many others have joined the effort. One is a USDA-approved food manufacturing facility. And many restaurants are making small batches, offering them to anybody who stops in, as well as freezing some for distribution. At my restaurant Chutney Masala, we are giving soup to anybody who shows up at our door. We are open for takeout and carryout and delivery about four hours in the evening, and we’re getting a good amount of support from the community. That’s keeping us in business.
A sample of sauces from one of Navjot Arora's Indian restaurants.
Randy Harris
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