MilkWood to close permanently, be replaced by McAtee Community Kitchen
McAtee Community Kitchen is named for David McAtee, the owner of YaYa’s BBQ who was shot and killed June 1.
Milkwood, the Ed Lee-owned restaurant located at Actors Theatre of Louisville, announced on social media Tuesday it had closed its doors permanently. However, in doing so, a new direction for the space also was revealed.
After seven years in business prior to shutting down due to the coronavirus pandemic, Milkwood was a downtown go-to known for its high-end fusion cuisine. But on June 15, it will reopen as McAtee Community Kitchen, an initiative designed to provide family meals, groceries, supplies, and ongoing opportunities to families in need across Louisville’s West End, Shelby Park, and Smoketown neighborhoods.
“We want to say a huge and heartfelt thank you to all the amazing staff that have been with us through our journey,” the restaurant announced on Facebook. “But we are not sad today. There is a new chapter for us.”
Interestingly, as recently as May 14, about a week before restaurants were allowed to partially reopen, Milkwood was looking forward to reopening. A post that day read, in part, “We look forward to welcoming you back into our dining room very soon. Unfortunately, it will not happen next week. … We hope to re-open sometime this summer. We will take our time and we will open our doors when we are ready. We want your dining experience at MilkWood to be every bit as special as it was before the shutdown.”
The McAtee Community Kitchen, part of the Lee Initiative, is named in honor of David McAtee, the owner of YaYa’s BBQ, who was shot and killed June 1 during an incident at the corner of 26th Street and Broadway. It will be led by Nikkia Rhodes, director of the Iroquois High School Culinary Arts Program, in a partnership with Children Shouldn’t Hunger and other organizations, including Dare to Care Food Bank, Actors Theatre, One West and Ashbourne Farms..
The kitchen will operate out of the former MilkWood kitchen space, where 100 meals will be prepared and packaged for families of four three days a week. Meal pickup locations will be at Trouble Bar, 1149 S Shelby St.; OneWest, 2028 West Broadway, Ste. 104, and the California Community Center, 1600 St Catherine St. McAtee Community Kitchen will also provide groceries at each of the pickup locations.
McAtee was known for being a source of affordable food for the Russell neighborhood, where he would often feed people free.
“Chef McAtee believed in taking care of people, and that showed very clearly through his work in our community,” Rhodes said in an announcement. “I want that legacy to continue five, 10, 15 years from now. I have always been inspired by chefs like him, who invest back into society around them and that’s what I want to do here. That’s exactly what we plan to do through McAtee Community Kitchen.”
Lee announced that the kitchen at MilkWood is no longer his, but rather “it belongs to her,” adding, “We are not here simply to feed those in need. We are here to inspire the next generation of black chefs in Louisville through pride in our professionalism, passion and integrity. I could not think of a better person to lead this charge than Nikkia.”
As for his reason to close MilkWood in favor of the community intiative, Lee said, “The events of the past week have given all of us much to think about and the time to reflect and decide where we go from here. I want to help my community of Louisville. There is so much work to be done and while I am only one person, together with some amazing humans, we are going to take a step in the right direction.”
Leo Braddock, founder and executive director of Children Shouldn’t Hunger, added, “In the honor of David McAtee, it’s only right that we create a foundational and truly sustainable future. Food is a vessel in which to enact and create change; while bridging inter- generational, cultural, and socio-economic lines to create a more equal and equitable tomorrow.”
Nikkia Rhodes. (Photo courtesy of Edward Lee)