[music]

michael barbaro

From The New York Times, I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.” When Louisiana’s stay at home order expires today, restaurants across the state can begin allowing customers back inside at their own discretion. That decision now lies with restaurant owners, like Jasmine Lombrage. It’s Friday, May 15.

jasmine lombrage

Hello?

michael barbaro

Hi.

jasmine lombrage

Hi, how are you?

michael barbaro

Oh, good. You sound great right now.

jasmine lombrage

Wonderful, wonderful. Hi. I’m Jasmine Lombrage.

michael barbaro

Hi, Jasmine. I’m Michael Barbaro.

jasmine lombrage

Hi, nice — nice to meet you this way.

michael barbaro

Very nice to meet you this way. Where exactly am I reaching you?

jasmine lombrage

I am at the Bullfish Bar Plus Kitchen here in Baton Rouge, La.

michael barbaro

That’s your restaurant?

jasmine lombrage

Yes.

michael barbaro

So how long have you lived in Baton Rouge?

jasmine lombrage

Me, personally, about 17 years. My husband has been here over 20 years. And we have two girls, two beautiful girls, Gaby — she’s turning 11 next month — and we have our gorgeous Angelle. She’s nine.

michael barbaro

How did you and your husband meet?

jasmine lombrage

[LAUGHS] It’s an old love story. We met at school. I was in dental hygiene school, and he was in culinary school. And he was working at that cafeteria. My friends said that they have good food over there, and they wanted to go. And so we went over there, and he was a quiet guy in the corner doing his own thing. I said, excuse me, what do you have here that is good and healthy that I can eat? And he looks up, and he said, Nothing is good enough for you.

michael barbaro

Oh, jeez.

jasmine lombrage

And then I turned to walk away, and he said, But if you come back tomorrow, I’ll make something for you.

michael barbaro

Mm-hmm.

jasmine lombrage

And I just kind of smiled and said, No, thank you. And I had a few friends who are like, Yes, we’re coming back tomorrow. So the next day, he made something for me. He made stir fry, and my friends — I had one of my crazy friends. She said — I said, I’m not going to eat. I don’t know if this guy is some kind of psycho or crazy and he’s going to put something in my food. She’s like, “Well, I’m going to eat. If nothing happens to me in a few minutes, then you — you can try it.” So that’s what happened. And he came back and asked, how was everything? I said, it was good. And then we started talking. Then — no then he said I’m going to be his wife, and I said, I’m sorry. That’s not going to happen. You know, and he said, well, he’s a praying man. He always gets his heart desire.

michael barbaro

[LAUGHS]

jasmine lombrage

Yes, 10 years later, we ended up married.

michael barbaro

So when you — when you two met, you were a dental hygienist student. He was training to be a chef.

jasmine lombrage

Yes.

michael barbaro

And so how did you end up in the food industry?

jasmine lombrage

Well, growing up, my mom always cooked, you know, for many people. So it was always a passion. I grew up cooking also with mom and just family and aunts. We just — that was just something we did. And then Angel, my husband, Chef Angel, my husband, you know, we — he was the executive corporate chef that started Voodoo BBQ & Grill, which is a restaurant here in the South. And he was known as the Pitmaster. And so what we did, we started Jazz City then, Jazz City was a catering company. And we were — he was like, well, this is what I love to do. And we wanted to do something — we have two young kids. We know that, you know, you can work hard for anyone and everyone, but really, if you want to leave that — create something for your family, you need to create something so that it can stay down and passed down for generations and generations and possibly grow. And that is our goal is to have it grow and flourish. And we ended up here at the Bullfish, and Bullfish was already — it was a restaurant previously owned by someone else. And when we came here, we made it our own by bringing new menu items. And this is the only place you can come in Louisiana and find an authentic Caribbean and Southern fusion cuisine. What he’s done, what Chef has mastered, he’s taken the fresh herbs that we have in the Caribbean, and then he’s merged it with the wonderful spices that we have here in Louisiana. And he — there’s a fusion of jerk, fish, and Southern barbecue shrimp.

michael barbaro

Mm.

jasmine lombrage

Yes. And the paella — you know, Chef makes a paella with — you know, he uses scallops. And the crawfish, which is from Louisiana, he infuses that with the andouille sausage, and then he puts the shrimp in there and the crab meat. And so it’s just the different twist that he puts on all of the dishes. It’s just magic in your mouth.

michael barbaro

Mm.

jasmine lombrage

And I don’t know if you heard the music in the background a little. We kind of use a lot of Caribbean kind of music from different parts of the Caribbean, and we play different music from here. The vibe is just so, I don’t need a passport, but I can get away here. Does that makes sense?

michael barbaro

Mm-hmm. It’s funny you keep calling your husband “chef.” Is that how you refer to him?

jasmine lombrage

At work, we keep it professional. At home, well, when we get in a car, it’s “honey.” But when we’re at work, we refer to each other — I refer to him as Chef, and he would just say whatever he had to say to me or, OK, yes, ma’am, and that would be it.

michael barbaro

Got it.

jasmine lombrage

Yes.

michael barbaro

And when did you take over the restaurant?

jasmine lombrage

That was last year, 2019, May 22, 2019.

michael barbaro

OK. So just about — just about a year ago.

jasmine lombrage

Yes. And this restaurant, the Bullfish, it is personal for us, because our home is connected to the Bullfish.

michael barbaro

Huh.

jasmine lombrage

Yes. So that’s why this pandemic — I personally have spent many nights not sleeping, because I know our home is connected to it. It’s not like we have 5, 6, 7, 20 locations. This is all we have. In our home, we have two kids. My daughter, my oldest, Gaby, she’s autistic. I don’t know — I mean, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but for now, she’s depending on us to care for her. So as she grows, the home is — before we committed our home to the Bullfish — was part of the security blanket that we had. In the event something happened, she would have that.

michael barbaro

Tell me what you mean when you say that your home is connected to Bullfish. You mean physically or emotionally or what?

jasmine lombrage

Well, whenever you get a loan, you have to give some kind of guarantee, like a personal guarantee. And that’s what we did, you know. We took that leap of faith and decided that we were going to put 100 percent in here to make it work. So we have to make the Bullfish work.

michael barbaro

So if something were to happen to the restaurant, it would mean potentially losing your home?

jasmine lombrage

Yes.

michael barbaro

And it sounds like that house is something you plan on passing on to your daughter, who’s autistic.

jasmine lombrage

Yes, well, both of our girls, but we know her, at least, we can have somewhere for her in case she needed somewhere to be, and then we can have that there for her. That is something that always gets me emotional talking about, because —

michael barbaro

Mm-hmm.

jasmine lombrage

[CRYING] I’m sorry.

michael barbaro

I understand.

jasmine lombrage

It’s — you know, and she’s standing in front of me looking at me now. And we want to do whatever it takes to make it work. You know, we just have to make it work. So when this pandemic started, it really gave us a scare, because if we’re not able to pay for everything, and we default on our loan, well, we understood the consequences, you know.

michael barbaro

Was there a moment when you felt that you had really kind of made it with this place, having bought it and started to make it your own?

jasmine lombrage

Yes. About a month before the pandemic, we were like, yeah, this was a good choice. My husband and I, we usually go to early morning service for church, and afterwards, we came here for brunch. And then before we were open, we had people waiting outside for us.

michael barbaro

Wow.

jasmine lombrage

It was wonderful. And we were like, OK, wow, this is really going to work. This is really working. And wow, honey, this is our baby, and we’re going to grow it, and we’re going to be able to pay up the loan, and we’re going to be able to just blow this thing out of the park. And then the pandemic started. And yes.

michael barbaro

When did you first start to notice that the pandemic was impacting the restaurant?

jasmine lombrage

OK, early March — early March, because it was February was good with Valentine’s Day. Early March is when everything started changing, and as March went on, the governor shut down the state. This is when, you know, you started losing staff members saying they’re not coming out. I mean, you cannot blame them. We also started doing curbside delivery, and we were doing social media posts and putting up signs, handwritten signs offering discounts, letting people know that curbside pickup is available, just getting different yard signs made.

michael barbaro

So you have to put up signs in the windows or outside telling people, we’re still around, you just need to call in.

jasmine lombrage

Yes, yes, yes. And then about maybe the second week after the state was closed, we would be lucky if we got two people that would call for curbside pickup. And we would just be sitting here the entire day, 11 to 8, and there’s no one that would come by or no one that would call. So then I started calling the restaurant phone a couple of times to make sure the phone was working, because it never rang. We were there for hours.

michael barbaro

So you called the restaurant’s main number with your cell phone just to see if it was working.

jasmine lombrage

Yes. [LAUGHS]

michael barbaro

Wow

jasmine lombrage

And, you know, I started reaching out to third party — third party delivery providers to see if I can sign up with them, like Uber Eats and Waitr and DoorDash and ChowNow. And they’re charging — some of them are charging from 25 percent to 35 percent.

michael barbaro

Per order?

jasmine lombrage

Yeah, that’s your food costs. Yes. You know, in addition to that, we’re not able to buy in bulk anymore, because we’ve wasted so much food. We’ve thrown away so much stuff, so now we’re having to go ourselves, Chef and I, to different mom and pop stores that are open, and we’re having to purchase items. Of course, now you’re paying more money for them, because you’re not buying the same quantity anymore, and you’re buying from a local retailer. So, you know, and then we have a bar here, and we weren’t — no one was coming out to drink anymore, so that went away. So yeah, the pandemic, you know, it’s been hard on us.

michael barbaro

Mm-hm. I’m so sorry.

jasmine lombrage

Yes.

michael barbaro

So with these delivery apps, these new sources of orders, how much money do you make off of any individual customer percentage-wise?

jasmine lombrage

Right now, you don’t, because the fact that we’re buying things from not just local distributors but smaller volume — we’re buying things in smaller volume, so our profit margin is smaller. So we’re basically not making anything. You’re keeping the doors open, but you’re not making anything from it.

michael barbaro

Can you give us a sense of where your daughters have been throughout this period? At what point was their schooling interrupted?

jasmine lombrage

Maybe March. Angelle, when did school close? March or April?

angelle lombrage

[FAINT] It closed in March.

jasmine lombrage

OK, school closed in March.

michael barbaro

Mm-hmm.

jasmine lombrage

I used to bring my — I still do bring my two girls, so I can homeschool them, because school — they are out of school. So I use a corner of the restaurant, and I do schooling there for my girls. But it was a challenge. The change was not welcomed and open for the girls, especially my oldest, Gaby.

michael barbaro

What do you mean?

jasmine lombrage

You know, with autism, everything has to be — you need to have something — everything scheduled and everything has a plan you need to follow through. And this whole pandemic kind of just went haywire for her in the beginning. She was not sleeping. She was more agitated. And my youngest, Angelle, she kept saying she wanted to go back to school, so I had to find other ways to help them. So —

michael barbaro

And Jasmine, I think I hear your daughters in the background. Is that right?

jasmine lombrage

Yes, you do.

michael barbaro

Do you think there was a point where your daughters picked up on what has been happening for you and your husband, but beyond the stresses that they’re experiencing, you know, from not being at school and social distancing, that they understood that you and your husband are struggling with this business and struggling financially?

jasmine lombrage

I think so. There is one incident. My daughter, my youngest, she — you know, she gets allowance, and someone gives her money or whatever. And she saved the money, and one day, she wrote a note. And then she left a note on the bed, on my bed. I was taking a bath, and I came out, and she had a note saying that, Mom, I know you and Dad are working really hard, and things are really tough. I have some money saved. I hope this helps for you to pay for stuff.

michael barbaro

Oh, wow.

jasmine lombrage

Yes. That was hard. That was hard.

michael barbaro

How old is this daughter who left you —

jasmine lombrage

Angelle was 8 when she did that. She just turned 9 in April. So she had a pandemic birthday.

michael barbaro

Can I ask how much she gave you?

jasmine lombrage

I think it was like $57 she had.

michael barbaro

Wow. And what did you do with it?

jasmine lombrage

I still have it saved. I still have it there. I try not to use it. It was just such a touching moment, and just to see, you know, that they realize, kids realize more than you let them know. And knowing that they’re here like almost every single day with me, and —

michael barbaro

They see everything.

jasmine lombrage

Yes.

michael barbaro

How bad are things, financially speaking, right now?

jasmine lombrage

Not close at all to where we want to be. Not good at all. Not good at all. We have applied for a lot of, you know, small business loans, and we’re just waiting to hear back.

michael barbaro

Have you been able to cover all the payments that you owe to the bank?

jasmine lombrage

I haven’t. I think finance is one of the things people don’t like to talk about, but I haven’t been able to meet a lot of — I had to ask for abatements. So we’ll see what happens.

michael barbaro

Mm-hmm. I mean, do you think there is a situation that you could imagine using that money from your youngest daughter, that $57?

jasmine lombrage

I don’t want to — I don’t want to, because it’s hers. Even though she gave it to me, it’s hers. I do not want — I don’t want to.

michael barbaro

Right.

jasmine lombrage

I — I’m just afraid to — I’m just afraid to even think about a situation like that.

[music]

michael barbaro

We’ll be right back. Jasmine, for listeners who don’t know what the rules are in Louisiana, what was announced earlier this week?

jasmine lombrage

Well, restaurants — commencing Friday, you can, restaurants can be open for 25 percent of the capacity.

michael barbaro

So you can seat up to 25 percent of what would normally fit inside the restaurant. So how many people do you think that is?

jasmine lombrage

Well, we can seat about 90 people comfortably in here. And so about 25 percent of that now is what we’re allowed to do.

michael barbaro

So if you can only put, you know, 20 or so people inside, can you make money?

jasmine lombrage

I don’t see how that’s going to happen, to be honest with you, because 20 percent — having 20 percent of people inside the business is not enough to sustain, and I don’t know how long that’s going to go on for.

michael barbaro

Right.

jasmine lombrage

So [SIGHS] it’s hard. It’s a hard thing to digest right now.

michael barbaro

But you have decided that you’re going to let people back inside?

jasmine lombrage

Honestly, me, personally, no. So it is still an open debate. We — actually, after I’m done with this interview, we’re going to sit down and weigh our options, the pros and the cons, and see if it’s something that we want to do.

michael barbaro

Can I ask you what you see as the cons and the pros?

jasmine lombrage

Yeah, the pros — that, you know, we’ll have 25 percent more revenue than what we’re seeing now. And then the cons is knowing that someone will — I’m afraid that, oh, my god, somebody’s going to come out, and they’re a carrier of Covid-19, and they infect somebody else. So I have no way of controlling that.

michael barbaro

Have you heard from customers about their opinions on whether it’s time to go back inside the restaurant?

jasmine lombrage

Yes, I have. I’ve had mixed reviews. We tend to ask customers, whenever they’re picking up or, are they ready for everything to open back up. That’s normally the question we would ask. And I feel that I’m getting more nos than yes, though, in my opinion.

michael barbaro

Mm.

jasmine lombrage

Yes.

michael barbaro

Those who have told you, Jasmine, that they do want to come out, what did they say is their reason for wanting to come out, to come back and eat in a restaurant?

jasmine lombrage

They want to get out of the house. You know, sometimes it’s just the fact that you cannot do something makes you want to do it.

michael barbaro

[LAUGHS] Yes. Yes, the forbidden fruit. Yes.

jasmine lombrage

Yes. My point, that’s exactly. Like, oh, you tell me I cannot eat this? OK, I’m going to. So yes, that’s what I feel I’m getting.

michael barbaro

I wonder, for you, if you didn’t run a restaurant, would you go out and eat right now? Would you walk into a restaurant, sit down, order food?

jasmine lombrage

I would probably go out on a weekday, because weekdays are usually less busy, because I have a child that has a compromised immune system. So I’m usually very careful to go out. I don’t want to take something home to her, so that would be another reason that I personally will not go out. And if I did go out, minus my daughter’s situation, I would have definitely found the seat — ask to be seated in the area that is far away from everybody else.

michael barbaro

I mean it’s interesting to hear you say that, that you wouldn’t want to go to a restaurant unless it was specifically at a slow time because of the health of your daughter, because you’re talking about yourself reopening a restaurant. So it’s quite a weird conundrum.

jasmine lombrage

Yes, but it’s honest.

michael barbaro

I just want to make sure I understand which of your daughters is immunocompromised.

jasmine lombrage

Gaby is.

michael barbaro

Is that the daughter who is autistic?

jasmine lombrage

Yes, because she was a former premature baby. I ruptured at 14 weeks when I was pregnant with her, and she had a lot of health challenges. They said, you know, that Gaby would never walk, talk, see, or hear. She was not via — she does not have any viability of life, and that she would never make it out of the hospital alive, you know. We were told that we were making a mistake for her. She coded, and it was even pronounced, and she came back. And she had a trach before, and she was on a ventilator before. She was on oxygen for the first — almost the first four years of her life. You know, she started talking late, walking late, and she had to do therapy, and, you know, she had a walker. So she had a lot of challenges to see where she is now and where she came from. So I’m always careful, you know. A typical cold for you and I is just a cold, but for her, it can lead to pneumonia, or we’ve lost her. We’ve had her stop breathing a couple times, and nothing — I don’t even know how to explain that.

michael barbaro

Mm. Given your daughter’s health, are you worried that you’re going to basically be in the kind of situation it sounds like you’re afraid of kind of all the time, because people are going to be coming into your restaurant, and they could potentially get you sick, and you could potentially get your daughter sick?

jasmine lombrage

Yes. You know, I don’t know what I would do if I find myself bringing something to my child. So I find myself in a very difficult position as a business owner.

michael barbaro

That would be very hard to live with. I understand.

jasmine lombrage

That would — yes. You know —

michael barbaro

I mean, it sounds — it sounds like that —

jasmine lombrage

[SIGHS]

michael barbaro

— that has to — that has to be weighing on you as you’re making this decision.

jasmine lombrage

Yes, it is. It is. It is. This is personal. This is not like, oh, OK, well, I’m just going to open and make the money. It’s not that situation for me. I have to be careful for it. I am responsible for her, and I’m also responsible for my customers, making sure they have the best experience. And I’m also responsible for my team that are coming to work. So —

michael barbaro

And you’re also responsible for that house —

jasmine lombrage

Yes!

michael barbaro

— that is connected to this —

jasmine lombrage

Right!

michael barbaro

— restaurant.

jasmine lombrage

Yes.

michael barbaro

Yeah.

jasmine lombrage

So my hands are tied. Like, yes. It — yes, I’m just — I’m just in a bind. Yeah, I’m just in a bind right now. And say hi, Gaby.

gaby lombrage

Hi.

michael barbaro

Hi, Gaby.

jasmine lombrage

Say hi. It’s OK.

gaby lombrage

Hi.

michael barbaro

Oh, I want to see you on the video. Nice to meet you, Gaby.

jasmine lombrage

Can you see her? I don’t know how this works.

michael barbaro

Mm-hmm. I can see her. Yeah, she’s got a great — she’s got a leopard patterned sweater on.

jasmine lombrage

Yes. Are you going to talk?

gaby lombrage

Hi.

michael barbaro

Hi. Gaby is waving.

gaby lombrage

How are you doing?

michael barbaro

I’m doing well. Your mom was just telling us about you. She — she loves you.

jasmine lombrage

Yes. [LAUGHS] Yes.

michael barbaro

She loves you — she loves you very much.

jasmine lombrage

I do. I love you, Gab.

gaby lombrage

I love you, too.

jasmine lombrage

OK.

michael barbaro

Well, that was — that was a nice gift.

jasmine lombrage

Yes, she walked up, so. [SIGH] I’m sorry.

michael barbaro

Yeah, just give me a sec. Oof.

jasmine lombrage

I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that —

michael barbaro

No, I —

jasmine lombrage

Hence the reason why I’m torn up. For someone that was 1 pound, 3 ounces when she was born, she is like — she’s like — I mean she’s beautiful. She’s doing so well. And then this is so scary.

michael barbaro

Yeah.

jasmine lombrage

This is so scary, you know. And then it’s a hard decision. I — we don’t open up, then to get customers to come in, we’re putting our house more at risk. We open up, and then something happens, then I’m putting my child’s life at risk. I don’t want — I don’t even want to be me right now.

michael barbaro

Yep. I’m going to be really eager — we’re all going to be very eager to understand what decision you make. And I want you to know that we really enjoyed getting to know you and talking to you, and we’re rooting for you and for your family.

jasmine lombrage

Thank you. Thank you so very much. Thank you.

michael barbaro

Thank you, and please give our best to your husband and to the rest of your family.

jasmine lombrage

Thank you.

gaby lombrage

Bye.

jasmine lombrage

Gaby says bye.

michael barbaro

Bye, Gaby.

jasmine lombrage

Say bye.

gaby lombrage

Bye.

jasmine lombrage

OK, thank you, guys.

michael barbaro

Bye.

[music]

michael barbaro

On Thursday night, after we spoke, Jasmine, her husband, and their staff decided that they would reopen their restaurant for indoor dining, starting on Tuesday. We’ll be right back.

[music]

michael barbaro

Here’s what else you need to know today.

archived recording (rick bright) Good morning, Chairwoman Eshoo and Ranking Member Burgess and distinguished members of the subcommittee. I am Dr. Rick Bright, a career public servant, and a scientist who has spent 25 years of my career focused on addressing pandemic outbreaks.

michael barbaro

In testimony, before the House on Thursday, a whistleblower, who was fired as head of a federal research agency, said that the Trump administration failed to heed his warnings about the shortage of medical supplies in the national stockpile and that Americans died as a result.

archived recording (rick bright) Congresswoman, we’ve known for quite some time that our stockpile is insufficient in having those critical personal protective equipment. So once this virus began spreading, it became known to be a threat, I began pushing urgently in January, along with some industry colleagues as well, and those urges, those alarms were not responded to with action.

michael barbaro

His testimony marked the first time that a federal scientist has gone before Congress and openly accused the Trump administration of endangering American lives by bungling its response to the coronavirus.

archived recording (rick bright) Without better planning, 2020 could be the darkest winter in modern history.

michael barbaro