Angie Quebedeaux
Audio By Carbonatix
On Friday, Brown Bag Provisions posted on social media that they were trying to reopen after falling behind on rent at their Design District location. Like many other small businesses, COVID and omicron have hit them hard and they now need an army of supporters to rally behind them and help to get them back in business.
Bills started to mount for this husband-and-wife-run business, while sales decreased during the omicron surge. And it didn’t help matters when their team of four were exposed to the virus, so they closed for a week to be safe and get tested. This extra week of lost revenue really hurt, and they found it difficult to catch up with rent.
Brown Bag Provisions opened just days before the pandemic shutdowns began in March 2020. They have never had a chance to experience their business in normal times, and despite all the challenges they faced during this pandemic, they were quickly recognized as the Best Sandwich Shop by the Observer in 2021.
The Independent Restaurant Coalition released a survey in January 2022 of 1,200 restaurants across all 50 states. They found that of the spots that did not receive Restaurant Relief Funds, 42% are in danger of filing for bankruptcy or have already. Twenty-eight percent report they have received an eviction notice or are anticipating one.
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The French Dip at Brown Bag Provisions
Angie Quebedeaux
The menu at Brown Bag Provisions consists of scratch-made breakfast items and sandwiches that will become the standard against which you measure other sandwiches. The Charles Pastrami sandwich, in fact, is life-changing and was easily one of the best things we ate in 2021:
Here the meat is brined for seven days with brown sugar, mustard, salt, juniper, caraway, fennel, garlic and pepper. It’s then rubbed agains with spices, smoked, and then cooked sous vide for two days. They miso-glaze it and serve it in a traditional Reuben-style on marbled rye, garnished with horseradish pickles, Swiss cheese and whole-grain mustard.
Owners Brent Hammer and his wife, Stephanie Gilewicz, have started a GoFundMe page with the hopes of using the money raised to get back on their feet so they can continue to provide their customers with the best sandwiches in the city.
