The presence of Soul & Smoke at the Evanston Farmers Market is testament to its agility and will to survive in a painfully shrunken and changed commercial environment. Heather Bublick and D’Andre Carter, the owners of Evanston’s seven-year-old Feast & Imbibe and its two-year-old barbecue division Soul and Smoke, are caterers by trade in a world operating with drastically curtailed social gatherings. The continued existence of their organization required that they re-imagine and re-purpose themselves in a new world of restrictions on the events and gatherings that were the basis of their business.
In some ways, the pivot was obvious: Soul and Smoke knew how to make meals and had the idled staff and facilities to make them, and the pandemic-stricken world was full of hungry people. In other ways, the way forward was complex and uncharted: passion and creativity had to be summoned to re-fashion the mission and to create the connections to meet the needs of communities marked by food insecurity and to support mission-critical social and medical services. Once the idea was born, the team moved quickly, and by March 17 free meals were being offered at the organization’s Evanston location. The meals provided by Soul & Smoke are substantial and appetizing, including entrée items and sides like smoked meats and brioche buns that are surprising and welcome additions to the usual menu for group-distributed meals.
Since the pandemic’s early days, Soul and Smoke has teamed up with partners like José Andrés of World Central Kitchen, the Evanston Community Foundation, the non-profit Trotter Project and Frontline Foods, to feed people in need and to keep restaurant workers employed. Heather and D’Andre also work with social workers in Evanston’s District 65 to identify school families who need food assistance—amazingly, every day since March 17, Soul & Smoke, in conjunction with the Evanston Community Foundation, has prepared and hand-delivered over 300 meals to families in need in District 65. Not confined to Evanston, Soul & Smoke has delivered food all over the metropolitan area. Since the start of the pandemic, with the support of its partners, Soul and Smoke has donated more than 100,000 meals around the Chicago area.
For the first months of the pandemic, the organization kept all its full-time staff on, albeit with reduced hours. As the pandemic has dragged on, funds have been drained and fund-raising keeps the community meals going on a day-by-day basis. You can help by purchasing meals for those who have been affected by Covid-19 in Evanston and its surrounding communities; you choose your level of support and recipients, and Soul and Smoke will cook and individually package the meals and provide free no-touch delivery. Your purchase of community meals helps Soul & Smoke to continue this service as long as it is needed. You can follow them on Instagram or Facebook for daily meal updates.
by Barbara Richards
