Cobaya at Home! Thursday 3.26.2020

Greeting Guinea Pigs! As we all navigate our way through this epidemic, Cobaya is looking for ways to support our local restaurant community, and also to still eat well. Obviously we can't host an event right now, as gatherings are off the table and restaurants are only open for takeout and delivery. But ... what if you could shelter in place and still participate in one of our Cobaya dinners? And, what if you could help restaurant industry workers affected by the COVID-19 crisis at the same time?

We want to make it happen. Here's the idea:

DATE: Thursday, March 26, 2020

PRICE: $100 (for 2 people)

WHAT'S INCLUDED: Dinner for 2: a very special main course, two sides, and dessert.

HOW DOES IT WORK:

• Email cobayamiami@gmail.com once you've booked and we'll provide details for pickup location.
• Pickup only in Coconut Grove between 6-8pm on Thursday; we'll stagger out pickup times to observe social distancing.
• Link to video feed for final prep instructions and virtual dining experience.
• Ask about wine options! Prices from $20-$60 / bottle.
• Please get your orders in quickly, as there's a limited supply. We'll be doing this first come first served.

20% of proceeds will go to an in-house employee relief fund.

Interested? Click this PayPal link to book:

Not to give away too much, but here's a little hint of what to expect:

If you're not up for dinner, but still want to support Miami's restaurant employees who have been put out of work by the COVID-19 crisis, please consider a contribution to the Miami Restaurant Employee Relief Fund, which has already raised nearly $50,000 to fund $250 grants to qualifying individuals, with 100% of the proceeds going to affected workers.

Thanks, stay strong and stay healthy.

Miami Restaurant Employee Relief Fund

Hello. We hope all of you are doing OK in these incredibly challenging and scary times.If you and your families are healthy and safe, you may be wondering how you can help others. Given what we do here at Cobaya, our thoughts and concerns go out to the many food and beverage industry workers who have been laid off as a result of the disruption and closures caused by COVID-19. As you probably already know, yesterday Florida's Governor has ordered all restaurants in the state to close their doors to the public; the CIty of Miami Beach and then Miami-Dade County had already done the same earlier in the week. As a result, restaurants have had to let go thousands of employees, most of whom live paycheck to paycheck.

At Cobaya, we've have been looking for ways that we - and you, our extended family of guinea pigs - can help. We've got some more ideas coming, but here's a start. Several restaurant industry folks have joined together to support a Miami Restaurant Employee Relief Fund GoFundMe campaign to provide grants to assist restaurant employees disrupted by the COVID-19 closures. We've been told that 100% of donations will go directly to affected employees and that funds will start to be distributed as soon as next week. The Fund is supported by Brad and Soroya Kilgore, Michelle Bernstein, Michael Schwartz, Zak Stern and others - and hopefully by you, too.

Here's what we are proposing to do: if you make a $250 contribution to the fund, we will make sure you have two GUARANTEED seats at our next Cobaya event (or another of your choosing), whenever we are all done sheltering in place and can resume dining together again. We'll do this for the first 25 people who make a $250 contribution and send us confirmation by email. That's roughly the cost of a couple seats at one of our events, or a really nice dinner for two. [FINE PRINT: you'll still need to purchase your seats to the event, but this will guarantee you a spot; given that we usually get about ten times as many requests as we're able to fulfill, and we know that's a source of much frustration for everyone, that's surely worth something?]

Even if you can't contribute $250, every contribution in any amount helps. The link is here:

Miami Restaurant Employee Relief Fund

We've got some other ideas in the works, too (if the words "Cobaya at Home" intrigue you, please let us know). Wishing all of you health and strength.