It’s no secret the Coronavirus pandemic has affected thousands of businesses across the globe, with Curtis Stone admitting it’s been a rough few months.
WATCH: Curtis Stone devastated as COVID-19 forces him to close LA restaurants
Appearing on Thursday’s episode of The Project via video link, the adored celebrity chef revealed he’s been forced to shut down both of his Los Angeles restaurants— a “brutal” decision made by the government which he had no control over.
“It has been brutal, I’m not going to lie. We are in one of the hardest-hit areas.”
The MasterChef regular also revealed he had little warning his restaurants would be closing, claiming he had four hours to put a plan in place before going into mandatory lockdown. Despite panicking, he made the apt choice to turn Maude into a marketplace and deliver food via carrier services.
“You have to accept it and move on. You’ve just got to be flexible and keep your people taken care of and employed, and that was always our goal. If we can feed the community at the same time, wonderful. It’s not easy. It’s like starting a brand new business,” he added.
Thankfully, he has his actress wife, Lindsay Price, to keep him company while self-isolating, admitting she’s been his rock throughout this tricky period in time.
“My beautiful wife is homeschooling and they are right at the ages, eight and five. They don’t go off into their bedroom and figure it out, you got to help them.”
Last month, Curtis opened up about his time in the MasterChef kitchen, admitting that despite being close friends with former judges Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris, he loves the new lineup.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, he admitted that after filming a guest spot earlier this year with Melissa Leong, Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen, he thinks they “work really well” together.
“Change always feels weird, but I think it’s going very well for all of them, to be honest,” he said. “The timing is brilliant. We all have more time on our hands and if you think about it we are all not only cooking more but cooking more adventurously.”