Hospital workers line up for fresh Puerto Rican food.
Efrain Nieves parked a food truck by the Yale New Haven Hospital Monday evening and prepared to dispense Spanish rice, chicken, roast pork, chicken soup and a hearty stew, sancocho for hungry hospital workers.
Nieves’ Wallingford-based Puerto Rican restaurant, Tata’s, has fared relatively well during the Covid-19 public health crisis. Nieves was thinking about ways to help others impacted by Covid when a friend ordered a large delivery for YNHH staffers.
Nieves decided to donate the food rather than accept the purchase.
“I would love to do something for the first responders, because they’re doing a great job out there,” Nieves said. “This is traditional Spanish comfort food — like from grandma’s recipes. I want it to feel like a family member’s cooking.”
Argenis Rodriguez is the patient care associate at YNHH who first prompted the donation. His coworkers’ families have been cooking and donating for his department, so the healthcare workers have less to worry about at the end of their long shifts. Rodriguez noticed that none of the food was Puerto Rican and asked his mother whether she would help him provide his comfort food.
His mother, Lysie Rodriguez, agreed. Then learned that her son’s department meant 100 to 150 people.
“I don’t know how to cook for that many people!” Lysie Rodriguez told the Independent.
Rodriguez decided to order from Tata’s, through a mutual friend. She was surprised to learn that the order would be free and served from a food truck.
Nieves decided to bring a food truck to keep the food as hot as possible. The rain on Monday further convinced him to keep the menu warm and hearty.
“When you get the food, it’s nice and hot and ready to make you feel good,” Nieves said.
Nieves has a 45 year-long career in cooking. He went to the New York Food and Hotel Management Program and began Tata’s in 2006.
Tata’s Owner Efrain Nieves (center): I appreciate life more now.
Nieves said that he worried about what would happen to his business when Covid-19 hit Connecticut. He decided to stay open for a week and figure out what to do afterwards.
“The first week was OK. The second week was better, and so on,” Nieves said.
He said that he is committed to paying all of his staff, even if that means going through his savings. He has received a federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgivable loan in case business begins to suffer.
Nieves has worked with the same staff for years and wants to keep working with them after the pandemic subsides, he explained.
In an interview on Monday, Nieves repeatedly thanked God and Wallingford for their generosity. Along with patronizing his restaurant, a few New Haven area neighbors have padded their bills with dollars for the less fortunate.
“I have people that have dropped money off three or four times to feed people who don’t have it,” he said.
The pandemic has taught Nieves to treasure what he has, he said. He constantly tells his children that he loves them.
“Now I appreciate life more. We’re in quarantine and we can’t even hug the people that we love. I’m going to tell them every day, ‘I love you. I love you. I love you,’” he said.
The YNHH donation kicks off what Nieves is planning to be a weekly event at different hospitals around Connecticut. If other hospitals agree, Nieves plans to bring the food truck to Meriden next Monday and to Hartford the week after that.
Huge props the health care workers and everyone that is finding ways to support them. True heroes!
BUT, these photos make me cringe. No one is distanced, more than one person is touching the sign. The food truck operator is literally touching shoulders with the hospital folks. Let me guess, somehow this is much safer than sunbathin on a beach or going to get a haircut . Yeah, OK.