LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A downtown restaurant will close, but reopen under a new name with a new purpose.
Louisville chef Edward Lee posted on Facebook Tuesday that after seven years on West Main Street downtown, he's closing Milkwood, which was already shutdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lee said the events of the past week have given him time for reflection. That's why he decided to close the restaurant and reopen as the McAtee Community Kitchen.
"I want to help my community of Louisville," Lee said. "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."
According to the LEE Initiative, the McAtee Community Kitchen is set to open June 15.
The kitchen will serve families in Louisville's west end, Shelby Park, Smoketown, Russell and California neighborhoods. It will also help those communities with hot meals, groceries, supplies and more.
Milkwood's kitchen team will prepare 100 meals, which will be packaged for families of four, three days per week. The meals will be available for pickup from 4-6 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The meals can be picked up on a first-come, first-served basis, at Trouble Bar on South Shelby Street, OneWest on West Broadway, and the California Community Center on St. Catherine Street. "Shelf stable" groceries will also be available at those pickup locations.
Chef Nikkia Rhodes, who also serves as the director of the Iroquois High School Culinary Arts Program, will run the kitchen with her students, Lee said.
"We are not here simply to feed those in need," he said. "We are here to inspire the next generation of Black chefs in Louisville through pride in our professionalism, passion and integrity."
Lee said he named the kitchen in honor of the late David "Ya Ya" McAtee, the beloved barbecue chef who "devoted his livelihood to helping people in the West End community of Louisville."
McAtee, 53,  was shot and killed by a National Guardsman in Louisville in the early morning hours of June 1. Police said guardsmen and police were returning fire.
"With his family's blessing, we hope to honor his memory with a kitchen that will serve the Black community in Louisville, while also empowering the work of young Black leaders in the culinary space," Lee said. "His efforts will serve as the kitchen's guiding light for this summer program, which will provide ongoing opportunities for community engagement as well as food and supplies."
Lee and The LEE Initiative are partnering with Children Shouldn't Hunger. Lee said he also worked with Robert Fleming, executive artistic director of Actors Theatre, to help transform the restaurant.
For more information about the McAtee Community Kitchen, click here.
Copyright 2020 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
