In 2013, Eat Rio started running culinary tours on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. In the following 6 years, we (Tom, Diana, Angela, Felippe, Vinicius, Marie-Lou and Samuel) took thousands of guests on foodie adventures, visiting street markets and traditional bars and restaurants in our favourite neighbourhoods in Rio.

It was a dream job - connecting happy, hungry and curious guests with a host of warm and welcoming staff, helping our visitors get a greater understanding of what makes Rio such a magical place.

Sadly, all this all came to an abrupt halt with the Coronavirus pandemic. And while we at Eat Rio try to reinvent ourselves, our friends at the restaurants we used to visit are in more urgent trouble. Rio's restaurants have been closed for more than 2 months (with no opening date in sight), and the staff are really struggling to afford basic food and essential household goods.

So, in thanks for all the amazing service we received over the years, and in solidarity for our fellow food workers, we at Eat Rio are trying to raise funds so we can support the out-of-work staff of the restaurants we used to visit with 'cestas básicas' (baskets of store cupboard food and household goods) to help them make it through this tough time.

For those of you who took a daytime Eat Rio Food Tour, you may recognise the staff of Severyna, the last stop on our daytime food tours, in the cover photo above (taken during happier times). Several of the Severyna staff have contacted us in recent days, asking if there is anything we can do to help as their situation gets more desperate.

I know (all too well) that a lot of people are currently dealing with unemployment and an uncertain future, so of course I understand that many are not in a position to help. But for those of you are able, even a small contribution of a few dollars/pounds/euros will make a huge difference to these former restaurant staff who are struggling right now. A big thanks for reading this far :)

Tom