We re doing our best.Â
That s what I think a lot these days, walking into a restaurant and seeing servers in masks and face shields commanding the room. I think it when I m sitting in the car, opening a container of spicy scallop sushi and using the armrest as a table for my wasabi soy sauce. I think it at home on my computer when a chef calls me to cry, and I can only offer the same bland acknowledgment: We re doing our best. Hang in there. Â
But sometimes our best is pretty, freakishly amazing, you know? I say freakishly because how else do you describe ramen noodles topped with fried chicken, eaten on a bench in a random parking lot next to the Youth on Their Own building? It s freakishly amazing, that s what it is. And yes I m saying this out loud while I m writing it. Because I m doing my best too.Â
A Tucson restaurant group is the first in Arizona to join a fledgling restaurant subscription service trying to help the industry survive the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.
Ares Collective Group, which runs four restaurants concepts including Prep & Pastry and Commoner & Co. in five locations in Tucson and Scottsdale, joined the Austin, Texas-based Table 22 digital platform in November. On Thursday, Dec. 10, it delivered its first subscriptions, an array of baked goods and breads from its August Rhodes Market, wines from Commoner & Co., and pastries from Prep & Pastry to a total of 73 subscribers, said Shannon Deduley, Ares groupâs marketing director.
âI just thought this was a no-brainer,â said Nathan Ares, the principal with Ares Collective. âWhy wouldnât you do this? Itâs fun and itâs not like anything else going on right now via apps.â