Behind the Delivery: TabeTomo
Chef Tomo & Our Co-Founders!
For the past three months, Chef Tomo, chef of New York dipping noodle restaurant TabeTomo, has faced immense uncertainty. Yet throughout the long days and chaos in the city around him, his personality, positivity, and kindness have radiated through time and time again. His love for his community is unparalleled; he says the only thing that gets him through his long days are his customers checking in. Chef Tomo’s longing for connecting with his customers is something that many in the restaurant industry are feeling today.
TabeTomo has been Feed Your Hospital’s first restaurant partner, and now has delivered 1,950 meals to almost 20 hospitals. Moved by frontline workers’ plight, Chef Tomo went through great lengths to provide his best work. His small NYC kitchen houses only 3 burners for both his regular orders (delivery/pickup) and Feed Your Hospital deliveries. To ensure high quality meals to both patrons, he arrives at the restaurant as early as 6:00 AM. Chef Tomo has also converted dining tables to become an extended kitchen for preparing hundreds of meals. His passion and meticulousness has been exceptionally remarkable in these times.
Since outdoor dining has started in NYC, the Feed Your Hospital founding team has visited TabeTomo. The first thing that Chef Tomo did was excitedly show them, a letter he had received. The letter was from a nurse in the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
In the letter, the nurse wrote, “Caring for Covid-19 patients is really scary. That meal that night made me feel there are people out there who appreciated our work.”
Chef Tomo explained that these moments make his job worth it. This simple bowl of beef and rice to the frontline has made the stresses of this unprecedented time a little less painful for both, and has pushed him to keep delivering food.
For now, Chef Tomo can’t wait to see his customers and ask if they are okay. Until that day, he hopes to continue to deliver meals to the frontline and do whatever he can to help the community. If you would like to donate to TabeTomo’s efforts, please visit feedyourhospital.org/partnerships/tabetomo.