As soon as the FaceTime call connected, Café Fresco Paxton Street owner Megan Elia let loose with screams, shouts and a few F-bombs.
“I cursed in the video a lot. My mother didn’t like that,” Megan confided to PennLive on Saturday “I said, ‘Mom this is huge!’”
Huge because a call from controversial Barstool Sports president Dave Portnoy means cash to keep the restaurant going. Amid all the COVID-19 lockdowns, Portnoy launched the Barstool Fund, “putting his money where his mouth is” to help mom-and-pop restaurants and challenging others to do the same.
“Oh my God,” Megan exclaimed immediately upon glimpsing Portnoy’s smiling face on the video call Wednesday. “Dave, I love you!”
Not everyone loves Portnoy, of course. The brash Barstool Sports host has been accused of misogyny, sexual harassment and online trolling. But no one can argue that he adores mom-and-pop restaurants and bars. One of Barstool’s regular features is Portnoy’s ongoing quest for the perfect slice of pizza.
So after another wave of coronavirus lockdowns hit in December, Portnoy announced the Barstool Fund to aid struggling restaurants. The effort was launched in another of Portnoy’s signature video rants posted to Twitter. Since then, the fund has taken off, with millions more in donations pouring in and Portnoy dolling out restaurant rescue money across the country. The fund now stands at $33 million.
On Wednesday, Café Fresco Paxton received the restaurant rescue the call.
“Dave is no joke. He stands by what he says, and he does it,” Megan told PennLive Saturday. “He’s helping the everyday woking people. That’s why we love him.”
The exact amount the restaurant will receive was not disclosed. Megan said the sum will cover Café Fresco’s payroll and rent for a month.
“I am so blessed,” Megan told PennLive. “Very, very honored. I don’t know how I got picked.”
Perhaps, the unconventional photo directed at Gov. Tom Wolf had something to do with it.
Megan said her move to apply for the Barstool funds came after a particularly bad day. A December snowstorm obliterated takeout business beyond what Gov. Tom Wolf’s in-door dining lockdown had done.
She said she spent the day shoveling snow, instead of serving up coffee and sandwiches from the restaurant on the 3300 block of Paxton Street.
Her back was aching, and she was soaking in the bathtub when Portnoy’s ploy to pony up his own money to help restaurants inspired her.
To stand out among what would be an avalanche of applicants from across the country, Megan said she included a picture of her and a co-worker seated on the restaurant’s snow-covered patio. The two were sipping coffee and, in Megan’s own words, “giving the finger” to Gov. Wolf.
Said Megan in the video chat with Portnoy describing the photo: “Gov. Wolf, this is outside dining. And we gave him the finger!”
Megan explained the gesture to PennLive this way: “Why I gave him the finger is, how do you just pick out the restaurants? He is destroying a lot of people’s livelihood. It’s probably not good for a business owner to do that, and I don’t want to get boycotted. But my restaurant has been devastated.”
The cash infusion from Barstool, which already has been wired to Cafe Fresco’s account, will not, by itself, save it. In addition, Cafe Fresco Paxton has received federal PPE money and Dauphin County aid, all of which has already spent on payroll and rent, Megan said.
Still, there’s no underestimating Portnoy’s power and pull on social media. Since he tweeted video of their call on Thursday, Cafe Fresco’s business has been way up, Megan added.
“I had people in here Friday I’ve never seen before,” she said. “This can do wonders for your business, just Dave saying your name. He can really make your business.”
In the end, that’s the only thing that will really rescue so many hard-hit restaurants, like Cafe Fresco Paxton: Simply, more people coming in to eat and drink.
“My clients are all business people,” Megan said. “Before COVID, we were always busy. All these offices are empty now. We have no customers. Please, go to your favorite restaurant. They need help.”
Concluded Megan: “We need to get people back in the restaurants. We need to get people back to work.”
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January 30, 2021 at 11:13PM
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Barstool’s Dave Portnoy awards funds to Café Fresco Paxton St. after owner ‘gives Gov. Wolf the finger’ - PennLive
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