Grove Bay Hospitality Group, which operates Corona Beach House restaurant at Miami International Airport (MIA) as well as eight street-side restaurants, has partnered with celebrity chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen to provide food for those in need in downtown Miami.
World Central Kitchen is a not-for-profit non-governmental organization devoted to providing emergency meals in the wake of natural disasters or other events.
Grove Bay Hospitality is using its Red Rooster restaurant in the Overtown neighborhood of Miami to stage the relief effort for the city. Red Rooster, launched through a partnership with global chef Marcus Samuelsson, was slated to open in Miami at the end of March. Samuelsson operates the original Red Rooster in Harlem, New York.
Francesco Balli, co-founder and CEO of Grove Bay Hospitality Group, said delayed opening is unfortunate but gave his company the opportunity to help during the pandemic.
“It gave us the opportunity to work with José Andrés and team up with his World Central Kitchen organization to do some good for the neighborhood,” Balli said. “We’re doing 200-300 meals a day, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.”
About $25,000 was raised from local groups to help fund the efforts. “We’re putting the labor and the team together, making the meals and handing them out,” Balli added. “We’ll be doing that every week for as far out as we can.”
Grove Bay’s airport restaurant, Corona Beach House, remains open at MIA. The restaurant is seating at 50 percent and, between Priority Pass members and airport employees, is managing to stay afloat, Balli said.
