Inspire Me: Food purveyors provide free meals to those on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic

On April 7, Fiorella restaurants and Bi-Rite Family of Businesses launched Pay It Forward Tuesdays — a new campaign designed to provide free meals to individuals working on the front lines during the coronavirus crisis. 

The brainchild of Fiorella co-owners Boris Nemchenok and Brandon Gillis, Pay It Forward Tuesdays aims to give away 100 free meals at each of its two San Francisco restaurants (on Clement and Polk streets) every Tuesday during the Bay Area’s shelter-in-place order. The decision to support health care workers, grocery store employees and members of the restaurant industry (including farmers, purveyors and drivers continuing to deliver food to restaurants) was a natural response, said Gillis.