‘Soul Of The City’ premieres at the Tribeca

DoorDash recently debuted a new short film, Soul of the City, at the Tribeca Festival
The film profiles New York City restaurants and their journey over the past year navigating the challenges of operating a restaurant during a pandemic.
“More than a year after NYC’s dining room shutdowns, over 1,000 restaurants have tragically closed for good, with many continuing to struggle even as the city reopens,” said Katie Daire, senior director of B2B Marketing for DoorDash, said at recent screening and panel discussion.
The restaurants and their owners featured in the film include Maribel Araujo of Caracas Arepa Bar in Williamsburg and Rockaway, Andrew Field of Tacoway Beach in Rockaway, Tren’ness Woods-Black of Sylvia’s in Harlem, Kamal Walters of Peppa’s Jerk Chicken in Flatbush and Crown Heights, and Palma and Nom Wah Tea Parlor in Manhattan.
“Restaurants are the lifeblood of their communities, bringing people together around their tables and in their kitchens,” said Daire. “The film was created to bring communities closer to the restaurants that have worked tirelessly to serve them over the past year and also remind customers to go dine-in again and visit their local restaurants.”
Araujo and Field shared their efforts to open a new delivery and take-out kitchen through DoorDash’s “Reopen for Delivery” initiative.
“DoorDash helped us combine the two concepts out of one kitchen,” said Arujo. “So if you go to DoorDash online you can find Tacoway and Caracas, so you can get tacos and arepas at the same time.”
The restaurants were forced to close two locations due to the pandemic.
“In the restaurant business, adaptability is number one. If a cook that doesn’t show up, it’s not only you doing your job, but it’s doing both jobs now,” said Field. “There’s no planning for that, you have to be able to adapt. The pandemic was a tough test of that.”