Facing forward. Ayesha Curry revealed via a series of Instagram Stories that all outposts of her International Smoke restaurant empire, which is a joint effort between her and chef Michael Mina, have temporarily closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Some locations, however, are still providing take-out and delivery.
“I just want to let everybody know I’m praying for everybody and that my heart goes out to everybody through this weird, unfathomable transitional time — whatever you want to call it,” the 30-year-old restauranteur began. “I hope everybody is staying healthy.”
Pivoting to her businesses, The Full Plate author stated: “Some of you may have heard that we’ve decided to temporarily close down our International Smoke locations out of the safety of our staff as well as people looking for a place to eat. We know how important it is right now to socially distance yourselves and we don’t want to add to the problem.”
The Canada native, who added that her “heart goes out” to the staff members who are currently out of work, did her best to look ahead. “It just sucks and I can’t wait until we get through this so we can get back to the hospitality that we know and love,” she explained.
She also noted that she understands many other restauranteurs and businesspeople are in the same boat. As she put it, “I’m well aware that we’re not the only ones in this position right now, so my heart, my prayers, all of my thoughts are going out to all of the businesses alike that are going through the same thing. We’ll get through this and hopefully one day we can all sit down, have a glass of wine and look back on this as a distant memory. Love to you all.”
Despite signing off with a kiss, The Seasoned Life author continued her reflection moments later and shared her thoughts on why she loves the restaurant business. “Anybody that’s in the restaurant industry and the hospitality industry just knows that the goal is to make people happy, to serve people, and when that gets taken away from you it’s just the craziest thing in the world,” she continued. “I’m just praying for this to all be over and I cannot wait for everybody to get back to doing what they love.”
The accomplished culinary figure, who is married to professional basketball player Stephen Curry, ended on an empathetic and heartfelt note. “Honestly, my prayers and thoughts are genuinely, wholeheartedly with everybody within the Mina group, within the International Smoke family and every other business out there. I don’t have words. I’m sorry.”
Earlier this month, Ayesha and Stephen, 32, made headlines when they announced they made a contribution to the Alameda County Food Bank through their Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation. that will help provide 1 million meals to school kids in Oakland, California. With schools in Oakland closed in an effort to combat the spread of coronavirus, the donation will help children who are used to being fed at school continue to eat.
“We just found out that the Oakland Unified School District is closing their doors for the foreseeable future,” the Golden State Warriors guard said in a video posted to his Twitter account on Friday, March 13. “So we want to intercede on behalf of the kids that rely on their daily services and try to help in any way that we can.”
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