Welcome to Boss Files. I'm Poppy Harlow. The focus of this episode is an industry hit so hard by the coronavirus outbreak, restaurants, and the millions of people around the world who rely on them for their livelihood.

With most restaurants around the country order to shut down, the National Restaurant Association says that in the United States alone,

the restaurant industry could suffer a $225 billion loss in just the next three months.

In a few minutes, I'll speak with my childhood friend Eric Dayton, the owner of the Bachelor

Farmer Restaurant and Marvel Bar in Minneapolis, about how he's trying to do the best he can for the nearly 100 employees he had to lay off, while finding a creative solution to help some of them get back to work.

It's daunting when you think about the scale of the challenge we're facing.

The number of people who've filed for unemployment just in the past week here in Minnesota is approaching 100,000, so it's pretty overwhelming. But I think we're trying not to let that deter

us. But first, I talk to Danny Meyer, who runs more than 20 restaurants here in New York City,

and of course, who is the founder of Shake Shack, and chef Thomas Keller, who you know from

Bouchon Bakery, French Laundry, and several

other restaurants across the country.

Together, they've had to lay off more than 3,000 members of their staff, essentially

overnight.

I've been touched by the number of people who were laid off, who faced the worst news

they never expected to hear, who have shown

grace and who have said, just please stay in touch and please let us know when it's safe to come back

and we're there for you. Here's our conversation. Why I wanted to have you guys on is because I want more light shed on the huge

restaurant industry and all of the people in our country who rely on jobs, whether it's in the

kitchen, whether it's front facing servers, they are out of work, out of a paycheck and desperate right now. And I know you are both individually doing what you can to help them. So we'll get into that. But I really appreciate you both coming on together. I know your longtime friends and peers and Danny, you guys run over 20 restaurants. Also, of course, there's the whole shake shack entity of it. And then Thomas, you run eight restaurants. and of course, you have all of the wonderful

bouchon bakeries as well.

So let's just begin with you, Danny.

What is the state of your business right now?

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