Jamie McDonald partners with World Central Kitchen on the South Slope

Amid the destruction and desolation left behind by Tropical Storm Helene, a spot on the South Slope has emerged as a hive of positive activity. It even has a bit of a festival feel. 

Just a day after the storm passed, Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ on Coxe Avenue reopened — not as a restaurant, but as a hub for World Central Kitchen (WCK), celebrity chef José Andres’ international humanitarian meal distribution organization.

Around tents and folding tables lining the street in front of Bear’s, swarms of volunteers in black WCK T-shirts mill about on various missions, while vehicles bearing the organization’s frying pan logo come and go, picking up and taking away large, insulated crates of meals. Overhead, a helicopter hovers, ready to land on the temporary helipad behind the restaurant to carry meals to hard-to-reach rural communities.

On the sidewalk near Bear’s and the Funkatorium, dozens of people line up for black to-go boxes of free, hot food and bottled water. Many congregate at tables under canopies to eat together, sharing news and stories, as a local band plays on a small stage nearby.

Though several Asheville restaurants — Cúrate, Copper Crown, Botiwalla, Chai Pani, Rhubarb and others — have worked with WCK to prepare meals, Bear’s serves as the city’s downtown hub for both preparation and distribution. Bear’s co-owner Jamie McDonald took a short break from the hubbub on an afternoon in early October to chat with Xpress about his restaurant’s role in the operation.

Mountain Xpress: How did Bear’s Smokehouse become a site for World Central Kitchen? 

Jamie McDonald: I started working with World Central Kitchen in my free time when the war in Ukraine started. I volunteered with them there, and since then, I’ve been in Turkey with them after the earthquakes, with them after the earthquake in Morocco and after the earthquake in Acapulco. So I knew them. They contacted me as soon as this happened and said, “Hey, we know you have a restaurant there. How capable is it to support the operations?”

You’re delivering meals throughout the area from a helicopter pad behind your restaurant? 

Yeah. The first day that showed up, the staff was like, “What is going on?” But it’s great. Today we’ll pump out like 25,000 meals or so from this location. It starts early, but we have a good crew, and thankfully we’re blessed with such a great local population. We’ve been inundated with just people wanting to help. 

How many people do you have volunteering each day at Bear’s? 

If I had to estimate, I’d say 80-100 a day between distribution and helping us cook and helping us package. It’s a huge operation. 

Do you know how long you and Bear’s Smokehouse will be doing this?

I figure it’s going to last at least three weeks, but it all depends on when water comes back and infrastructure starts getting back in place. Then, usually, from a World Central Kitchen standpoint, they start to pull back because people can start supporting themselves. 

How does it feel to be working with World Central Kitchen right here in Asheville?

Like I said, I’ve traveled all around the world with them doing this. I never would have thought in a million years I’d be doing this at home. It’s very surreal. 

Though Bear’s has been so busy with its World Central Kitchen work, the business has not been operating since the storm due to lack of water. Have you thought about what’s next for the restaurant?

Yeah, that’s a whole other conversation. But for now, it’s just take it a day at a time, help as many people as you can. And I figure, it’s karma: You do good things for others, good things will happen. A lot of people down here are going to need it; it’s going to be a long recovery for the area.