Like monsoons and night blooms, it’s a Tucson summer tradition: Primavera Cooks! is back.
“We are planning a limited, special edition of four dinners over a month, beginning on Sunday, Aug. 29, at Kingfisher, followed by Reforma, Janos at Carriage House and Feast. This is such a legacy with a remarkable following, and people have really expressed a desire for us to bring it back,” said David Elliott, special events coordinator for Primavera Foundation.
The abbreviated season is a result of the pandemic, which resulted in cancellation of the entire 2020 Primavera Cooks! season with the exception of a virtual dinner at Feast.
It was a loss for the foundation, which is dedicated to providing pathways out of poverty through safe, affordable housing and workforce development.
“We usually generate well over $200,000 a year with Primavera Cooks!, so we took a big financial hit last year, but our donors are amazing, and many stepped up with donations in lieu of the dinners. They are fiercely committed to ensuring that those in need in our community don’t fall through the cracks,” said JoAnn Salazar, chief philanthropy officer of the Primavera Foundation.
Primavera offers a wide range of programs and services, including a 100-bed emergency shelter for men who are working or seeking employment (currently housing 35 men to accommodate social distancing); two drop-in centers for people in need of emergency services (one is the city’s only facility with mail and phone message systems for those without a home address). Primavera also provides various permanent, affordable rental housing communities citywide.
During the pandemic, it focused considerable resources on eviction prevention and rapid rehousing programs in an effort to prevent people from losing their housing.
In an average year, Salazar said Primavera assists 250 with eviction prevention. In the 2020 calendar year, that number was over 2,500, and during 2021 it is on track to be greater than that.
“With the possibility of the eviction moratorium expiring on July 31, thousands and thousands of households will face eviction in the coming months. We don’t want to see them lose their stability. We use a holistic approach to help them get stable and stay stable so they won’t be evicted during a pandemic when lots of factors — jobs, child care, illness — seem out of their control,” said Salazar.
She emphasized that clients work hard to utilize all possible resources and opportunities and to become self-sustainable.
Many supporters, including Primavera Cooks! restaurant partners, hope to restore a sense of control to these families, according to Jim Murphy, chef/owner of Kingfisher.
“Primavera brings people off of the streets and gives them vocational information, helps them to find new jobs and housing and then helps them sustain that. For people who have had a rough six months and gone from being able to support themselves to being in difficult circumstances where they need help, Primavera can offer that help,” said Murphy, who has supported Primavera Cooks! almost every year since inception.
He said that he always enjoys showcasing Kingfisher’s seafood specialties through the four-course, wine-paired dinners that are specially planned and prepared in conjunction with Primavera Cooks! apprentice chefs.
“We get together with the apprentice chefs and ask if there is something they want to learn, and whether it is grilling, searing, smoking or some other technique, we plan a menu to try to accommodate them,” he said.
They also attempt to accommodate gluten-free and dietary restrictions for diners. Kingfisher will open exclusively for Primavera Cooks! diners the evening of the event; it will operate at 60% to follow social distancing protocol, and diners will be required to wear masks when moving about the restaurant.
“Lots of our guests are appreciative of us keeping these guidelines, and we are comfortable doing that. We are very proud to be asked to be part of this event. It is a dinner with a purpose, and we want to give our guests a real dining experience,” said Murphy.
For guests and restaurateurs alike, Primavera Cooks! also provides an opportunity to give back, according to Doug Levy, chef and owner of Feast.
“I can’t be at the Primavera shelter every day helping people, and I can’t employ people without restaurant backgrounds, but this is a way that I can make a difference; and I have had customers say that this is a means for them to contribute somehow,” said Levy, who organized the Primavera Cooks Zoom Take-Home dinner for 165 attendees last year and has provided dinners for the men’s shelter during the pandemic.
Levy hopes the event also promotes awareness about Primavera services and about the struggles — and the ability to triumph over them — that we all share.
“We see people standing on a street corner with a cardboard sign, or we see tents pitched next to a wash, and we kind of dissociate, since that is unlike the lifestyles most of us lead. If this pandemic has taught me anything, it is that circumstances can change at any time, and it may be completely out of your control. It doesn’t matter if you are a person who owns a restaurant that has been around for 20 years, the bottom can drop out from beneath you, and you can find yourself in a position that is really ugly and terrifying,” he said.
“We need to regard people who experience homelessness as just that: people who experience homelessness. With any luck and some effort, we can help make it a temporary condition for them.”
