Help Que lo Que workers be compensated

Hi all, Sam here. Former Chef & Partner of Que lo Que, owner of the concept. Just wanted to say thank you for the outpouring of love and support you all have continuously shown throughout the existence of this concept.

The daily operation of que lo que wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the tireless work of the staff, day in and day out. sometimes operating felt smooth, and other times it felt like we were all working to prevent the ship from sinking. That’s the restaurant business - and with that comes the impossibility of profiting from one, no matter how much you work for it; especially after COVID. While I was very aware that the heart of que lo que just may have been “a little too big for it’s own body," I was convinced of the concept’s possibilities and understood the first-year lows of a restaurant business doesn’t overall project the outcome after a few years in. I thought that all we needed to do was hang on and continuously tune the dials. The process of the business closing down was abrupt in the hands of others and came to be a great shock - even to me.

I learned through my vendor’s calling and texting to tell me they send their condolences, that my orders were canceled and that they heard my business had closed... before anyone approached me about it. I was also signed out of this Instagram account with a password change (I have administrative rights so there’s that) and I wasn’t able to give my staff proper notice for a smooth transition. Therefore someone else was able to express this to the community despite it being my concept before I even did. My staff saw an Instagram post faster than I could even get to them. Before I was given the chance to run for one more week and sell all of the food before it rots, to sit my staff down and express what this entails face to face, I was getting calls and texts from all angles with questions and it was overwhelming.

The people that worked at the restaurant are regular people who work every day to make ends meet. The food was great and they are my recipes everyone loved, but what made it so special was the staff being PROUD of the food that they brought to your table - from the prep cooks to dishwashers; the line cooks to the servers, and of course management.

It was expressed to me that a severance package will go out to the workers for the abrupt change. I was told that I’m not getting one - and while I’ve made amends with the possibility on my part, I haven’t about the staff not receiving theirs. I don’t know if/and/or/when the staff will receive compensation, so I created this gofundme with a calculation of the wages for two weeks, including management.

A little background on the people who worked for que lo que:

If this post doesn't remain up on this page, I have also included the link on my personal page for access. @chefsam_

I am proud of what we provided to the community despite it not being a large-scale profitable business. I’m grateful to all for opening their hearts to something different. Things will be quiet on my end while I take the time I need, but I will make sure that whatever $$ is donated will be split between the workers fairly. I ask if you can all share and spread this post throughout the community.

Thanks to all again, take care.

Sam