Oxford, Mississippi, Chef and restaurateur John Currence released this statement regarding the status of the City Grocery Restaurant Group today, March 17, 2020:
“Until such time it is deemed safe for our guests to return to our dining rooms, we have decided to close the restaurants to on-premises dining. As a 40 year veteran of the service industry, this decision comes more difficultly than I can ever express. The institutionalized part of me knows what the significance of a meal can be in a time of crisis. The dining room at City Grocery after the ice storm of 1994 was as joyful as anywhere I have ever been in the days after we reopened. Restaurants in New Orleans after Katrina were bathed in floods of tears as friends reconnected, so the thought of closing in a time like this is positively counter-intuitive. Putting staff and guests at further risk of infection, however, is not worth the risk of of any emotional gain that comes from remaining open any longer.
We will continue to operate the kitchens for curbside service and delivery, for the time being. The Main Event (our catering service) is also preparing full four portion prepared meals we are happy to deliver as well. Each meal is either for oven-warming or boil-in-bag preparation (we also have the best freaking sour dough dinner rolls you have ever dreamed of).
Move On Up, MS (our non-profit foundation) will be putting together boxes of meals/snacks/staples for families in need as long as our $$ lasts. Boxes will consist of food for four people to last seven days and families can apply for assistance through our website. We are proud to be able to deliver help to families in need during this time of unimaginable crisis.
We love you all and will look forward to seeing your smiling faces back in our dining rooms as soon as this crisis passes and we can open our doors to you again. Until then, be strong and be well. We are all in this together…John”
