'Top Chef's Tom Colicchio Closing His Restaurants In Effort To Slow The Spread Of Coronavirus

Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, Bravo Top Chef, Top Chef Season 17 premiere — Bravo

‘Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio Closing His Restaurants In Effort To Slow The Spread Of Coronavirus

Top Chef star Tom Colicchio is closing all of his restaurants in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus (also known as COVID-19).

The entertainment industry, like everything else, has been completely rocked by the outbreak and many regions are asking their bars and restaurants to close as people begin social distancing.

On Instagram over the weekend, Colicchio revealed that although it was a “tough” decision, he had no other choice than to close his restaurants.

“Today I’ve made the hardest decision I’ve ever faced in my 40 years in this industry, to temporarily close Craft and our family of restaurants in NYC and L.A as well as our corporate office after dinner service this evening,” he wrote, according to Bravo’s Daily Dish. “We are taking our lead from the science community, public health agencies, and the federal, state, and local leaders who have made it clear: the time for collective, coordinated action is now.”

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Today I’ve made the hardest decision I’ve ever faced in my 40 years in this industry, to temporarily close Craft and our family of restaurants in NYC and L.A as well as our corporate office after dinner service this evening. We are taking our lead from the science community, public heath agencies, and the federal, state, and local leaders who have made it clear: the time for collective, coordinated action is now. Our mission has always been ‘Make People Happy’ but we can no longer do that without jeopardizing the wellbeing of our family of staff, our purveyors, and our guests. We will do everything we can to support our employees through this transition and help each other stay safe. For now, we plan to work with local authorities to help our communities get through this crisis. For those asking how you can help: 50% of the proceeds of all gift certificates purchased between today and April 30th will be placed into a staff fund to help financially support our employees. You can use the link in my bio to purchase your gift card right now. With love and gratitude, Tom

A post shared by Tom Colicchio (@tomcolicchio) on Mar 15, 2020 at 1:56pm PDT