More than a dozen chefs, bakers, businesses and food writers in the Boston area have been nominated for James Beard Awards, including two for Best Chef in the Northeast: Cassie Piuma of Sarma in Somerville and Tiffani Faison, co-owner of Big Heart Hospitality. Faison has been nominated for the latest addition to her Fenway food empire, Orfano, which also includes Tiger Mama, Sweet Cheeks and Fool's Errand.
But top of mind right now for her is the hit the coronavirus pandemic has taken on the industry.
"It's really tough. We're in a place where things are scary," she told Jim Braude on WGBH News' Greater Boston Wednesday. "There's a weird dichotomy of trying to figure out this push to open and also trying to do the right thing in terms of staying healthy and making sure we're doing right by our staff and our team."
She also spoke about the federal stimulus money from the Paycheck Protection Program, which gives loan to businesses to help them pay their employees at this time, with stipulations.
"As grateful as I am for the government actually giving us funds and allocating them properly this time ... it seems like we're running 100 miles an hour into a brick wall," she said. "And so how many times are we gonna do this until it's like, 'there's no more money?' ... What happens then?"
