(Her answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.)
SELF: What was a typical workday like for you before the pandemic?
R.G-L.:Im a line cook.
Getty / Bill Boch; Designed by Morgan Johnson
We would also be responsible for making family meal for the workers.
When service starts at 5:30, we start working.
For the most part, we always had a fair amount of reservations.
We close at 10:00 during the week, and on weekends we close at 11:00.
Things would start slowing down maybe around 9:00, and Id start breaking things down.
SELF: How did things start to change at your restaurant?
R.G-L.:Our first big change was that we had a big drop in banquet reservations.
We do private events and catering because were also part of a hotel.
Banquet events all started getting canceled within a week.
Reservations started dropping too.
One night we served 20 tableswe typically do closer to 200.
We have a group chat at work, and everyone was asking questions about what was going on.
We got the official announcement that the restaurant was closing on Wednesday, March 18.
SELF: How did the closure affect you and your colleagues?
R.G-L.:Were all kind of going through the motions.
We dont have the option of working for the restaurant from home.
PTO and sick daysa lot of the people who are in this field dont have that.
People are just shit out of luck.
Being in limbo before we officially closed was the hardest.
But my restaurant has been super great.
Hes been very transparent about everything happening and has been sharing resources, like how to apply for unemployment.
Theyve been supportive, which is great.
SELF: How did you come up with the idea to teach virtual cooking classes?
R.G-L.:Ive always been wanting to help people in the kitchen.
I love teaching people about food, talking about foodits something Im super passionate about.
This is the push I needed.
Not everybody is on the same level.
So my classes are a free-for-allwhatever clients want to learn, whatever they want to make.
Its not tied down to whatever I have on the blog.
I have one client who wants to make fresh pasta, so were scheduling that.
She doesnt do much cooking at home, and she once burned a pot of water.
It was really sweet.
That was the most fun part about it, seeing how excited she was.
SELF: So many people are stress-baking and stress-cooking right now.
Is cooking still a source of comfort for you too?
R.G-L.:The first week of uncertainty, I was stress-cooking, for sure.
I have roommates, so Ive been cooking for everybody, which is really nice.
I made some no-knead bread the other day.
Ive been pouring into my blog, which is a solid distraction.
As well as cooking, I ordered some potting soil and pots to repot my plants.
I have an herb garden starter kit that arrived today.
People have been panic buying at the store, so I thought, Ill grow my own.
SELF: How are you handling buying food right now?
R.G.-L.:Im mainly working through the food that Ive had pre-pandemic.
I keep a verywell-stocked pantry, given my upbringing and knowledge gained from culinary school.
(I actually shared a list of mypantry staplesandfavorite pantry-focused recipeson my blog.)
My mom taught me how to cook with what I have at home and make the best of it.
I work with the FIFO method: first in, first out.
All of my food is dated and labeled with blue painters tape.
Knowing that I have what I need at home has definitely helped tame my anxiety quite a bit.
For items that Ive needed recently, Ive been using pickup services at my local grocery store and Instacart.
I brought the food in with gloves andwiped everything down.
Then Iwashed my handsand wiped down counters as needed.
Can you talk about what that feels like?
Im grateful to have had it when I did.
I applied for Medicaid and unemployment the same day, so hopefully those kick in soon.
SELF: What do you think the future looks like for yourself and other culinary workers?
R.G-L.:I honestly dont know.
Thats been somewhat stress-inducing.
Im trying to just embrace it, and everybody else is doing the same thing.
For more information about Gascon-Lopez' virtual classes, contact her atcook@sofritoproject.com.
