Nothing could have prepared food establishments for the impact of the pandemic in 2020, and there was no recipe for survival. No special ingredient, no fancy new appliance, no secret sauce. Each business adapted with its own combination of creativity, resilience and collaboration.
Even restaurants with years of experience under their belts and aprons, like Full Circle Cafe & Espresso Bar in Stevensville, MI, endured a tense time of adjustments and prioritizing. Their wholesome breakfasts, lunches and scratch-made baked goods, focused on locally sourced and seasonal ingredients, had a devoted clientele. Following an unusually strong January and February in 2020, owners Jayme and Ryan Bendoski reluctantly closed their doors in March. Jayme recalls, “It was a nightmare. We decided over the course of 10 days that we just had to shut this down.” With one phone line, they were not ready to switch to takeout only, and were concerned for the safety of their 14 employees.
Closed for 10 weeks, the Bendoskis got busy weighing options. They used the downtime to build a website and online ordering system, and worked with village officials to plan summer seating outside their storefront. Loyal customers rallied around them and purchased a LOT of electronic gift cards. When they were able to open again in June, customers kept the ovens busy, ordering takeout, curbside and home deliveries. Their landlord assisted in rigging up heating elements for the back patio and extended a grace period when rent was due. Customers could also sponsor meals for health care workers, enabling the Full Circle team to deliver free food to several facilities each week during the holiday Covid-19 surge.
It’s that community of support that heartens Jayme’s resolve to keep flipping the switch and the pancakes. “If you were writing a storybook, our story would be that it’s all been on faith,” she says. “It was like, we’re going to hope for the best and try to make the best decisions we can. Then these angels came around to support us and it has always worked out. It’s about being creative with what you have. We’re still learning as we go.”
The Beard & The Boss first appeared on the South Bend, IN, food scene in 2015, when Phil Beattie started creating specialty sausages using local pork and seasonings. He and his wife, Brigid, both had full-time jobs (Phil as a chef, Brigid as a financial controller) but enjoyed the side gig of sharing their sausage sandwiches and vegan alternatives with their growing following, mostly at open air events, four or five times a year.
Their food business was put on the back burner in the summer of 2019 when The Beard & The Boss had a baby boy, and Brigid arranged to start working from home. When Covid-19 arrived, Phil was furloughed from his day job. “Then I got really, really used to being home with my family. That’s something I never had when I was a chef for so many years.”
When he was finally called back to work, he suffered daily panic attacks during his commute, so he began brainstorming life and work options.
In conversation with food colleagues, Phil cooked up a meal kit delivery idea. In late July 2020, Phil rented off-hours space in Jaworski’s meat market. With a great dedicated space to create flexible menus, Phil and Brigid sharpened their knives and announced on social media that they were back.
They put together a unique package. “All the food is cooked. It’s fresh. All you have to do is reheat it and eat it,” says Phil. The meals are made with locally sourced meats and vegetables. One week it might be Japanese Curry Katsu with rice and pickled slaw, and the next might be Spaghetti Bolognese with classic Italian salad and cold-fermented cheesy garlic Boss Bread. Vegan and vegetarian options and additional sides are always offered.
The weekly meal is posted on their website with a Friday to Sunday order window. Contact-free delivery on Thursday nights has spread throughout South Bend, Mishawaka and Granger, where Phil and his Subaru deliver upward of 40 meals every week.
Stopping short of calling Covid-19 a blessing, Phil says, “The pandemic, in a way, presented an opportunity for us.” Brigid adds, “It made us reassess our priorities, and helped Phil realize that he didn’t want to work for a company but for himself and for us, and that he needed to find a way to do that by sharing our love for food and feeding people.”
Molino Tortilleria in Sawyer, MI, was born in the summer of 2019, when owners Aaron and Christie Harris set up a booth at the St. Joseph Farmers Market to sell their own hand-pressed heirloom corn tortillas, prepared by nixtamalization, an ancient soaking and cooking process using just corn, water and lime.
Inspired by success at the market, they branched out into wholesale business in the fall with a few targeted restaurants. Molino operates out of a small storefront in Sawyer next to the town’s popular coffeehouse, Infusco, and in mid-February 2020 opened for weekend retail. They had great success for four weekends, then Covid-19 stopped everything.
“At the time, we tried to think what is important to us, and what can we do to really help the community right now, and keep ourselves going, because all the restaurant business we had just all pulled away: totally gone,” says Aaron.
So they created Molino Market to provide basic groceries and food essentials, adding new items to their online ordering site each week. Kitchen staples like flour, butter, eggs, sugar, onions, carrots and fresh herbs were available through weekend curbside pickup.
“We got a lot of loyal customers through that initial market, because we were creating a service that they really needed,” says Aaron. “Many of those customers who bought groceries from us that spring stayed with us.” The option of home delivery further sweetened the deal.
Next, they curated more products from local businesses, sourcing meat from Jake’s Country Meats in Cassopolis and in-season produce from Alex’s Veggies near Stevensville. Granor Farm in Three Oaks grows rare heirloom corn varieties for them.
In summer, they made the tough financial decision to stop home deliveries and hire a chef, enabling them to offer Mexican street food on the weekends. Their “No Mask, No Taco” policy didn’t stop the sell-out popularity of breakfast tacos, tamales and pozole.
When the weather cooled, meal kits were added to the weekly online market, with the same curbside pickup times and, eventually, nationwide shipping.
Within a broader perspective, Aaron notes, “One thing we became aware of in the beginning of the pandemic was that our food system in America is broken in general, which is why we saw all the food shortages.”
Molino did not experience the scarcity of meat that plagued some areas, for example, because they source theirs from local farmers as much as possible.
“There was never really a time like this, where everyone had to change their shopping and eating habits all at once,” says Aaron, “so we think this was maybe a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity where everyone, all of a sudden, couldn’t do things the way they were used to doing them.”
It is the hope of the staff at these and many other Michiana food purveyors that the challenges presented by the pandemic will ultimately serve up a new appreciation of local businesses and local food. Their commitment to their communities should keep us coming back for more.
5729 St. Joseph Ave. Stevensville, MI
269.429.8696
fullcirclestevensville.com
South Bend, IN
574.780.0757
thebeardandtheboss.square.site
5846 Sawyer Rd. Sawyer, MI
269.326.5855
molinotortillas.com
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