The StayInTakeOut Series

The StayInTakeOut series I created during my employment at MP, an HR and payroll company, is one of my favorite video series I’ve worked on. We noticed that one of the hardest hit industries during the COVID-19 pandemic was restaurants, with almost all restaurants being forced to shut down and adjust their business models. The transition to a primarily takeout model proved particularly difficult for smaller operations. MP saw these clients struggling and in response created Restaurant Love, a campaign to encourage more takeout orders and support local restaurants.

A main feature of this campaign was the StayInTakeOut Series, a 3 part mini-documentary series that I produced.

Our first restaurant we covered was The Castle, a restaurant which I helped get off the ground by producing their original crowdfunding video. The Castle was in a unique situation - being a board game café meant they had a huge library of games that were sitting on a shelf with no one to play. With a little bit of creativity, they came up with a board game rental service to make sure the community could have alternative forms of entertianment during a difficult time.

Good food, huge selection of games, and a curated space are all hallmarks of The Castle, a board game cafe run by Kevin and his wife. Like many restaurants across the country, The Castle has had to shift gears in order to survive through the ongoing pandemic. This is their story of how they're innovating and adapting to bring gaming and food to the people around them. If you order from them (or any restaurant!) don't forget to spread the message with #StayInTakeOut. Support The Castle: https://www.thecastlebeverly.com/ https://www.facebook.com/thecastlebeverly/ See more stories: https://restaurantlove.org/ Find an MA restaurant doing takeout near you: https://carryoutma.com
Paul Turano runs Cook, a restaurant in Needham that serves fancied up food with a casual vibe. Paul has always strived to deliver high quality food to families and foodies alike, and right now is no exception. His next step is to get more in touch with his local community and to create the food experience you crave at a restaurant in the comfort of your own home. Check out his restaurant at - http://www.cookneedham.com/ Ordering takeout from your favorite spot? Don't forget to post and tag them with #stayintakeout! See more at https://restaurantlove.org/

Cook in Needham was the follow up to The Castle. Cook was a more traditional style restaurant and a great way to showcase how devastating the effects of the pandemic had been on their business. They had just reopened when we filmed and you could feel the excitement around Paul Turano as he talked about ways he wanted to innovate in the restaurant industry.

Chef Dave Becker knows what makes a great restaurant: good ingredients, and good people. For him, the most important part of running a restaurant in the middle of a crisis (like a pandemic!) is to take care of his team first. With an emphasis on leading by example, he's still making some of the best food around at his eatery, Sweet Basil in Needham, MA. http://www.sweetbasilneedham.com/ https://restaurantlove.org/ https://masspaysolutions.com/

Sweet Basil was the final restaurant covered in our series. Chef Dave Becker showed how to be a leader in the middle of one of the biggest crises the world has ever seen. Keeping a calm and collected head was key to maintaining staff morale during stressful shifts and providing local service workers with much needed hot meals.