Underground: an incubator for growth
Re: “Legal troubles pile up for local food entrepreneur Jonny Hunter” (12/5/2019): Jonny Hunter is a local businessman and restaurateur who has employed hundreds, who has supported many local growers and purveyors in their infancy, who has dedicated himself to fostering collaboration and who has strived to bring quality food to a hungry and receptive populace. Collectively, we have worked with the Hunters and their various business partners since the Catacombs provided cheap local meals to hungry students and professors, as volunteers, as employees and as friends. We cannot speak to all of the financial and legal matters that are bullet-pointed in your article, but we can bear witness to the fact that the Underground Food Collective serves as an incubator for a great deal of growth in the Madison and greater culinary communities. The kitchens at Underground allow for experimentation, collaboration and innovation and have become a place where many realize their power in the food world, as servers, cooks, entrepreneurs and consumers. We have Jonny Hunter to thank for that. I hope that the Madison community considers this as Underground’s legal and financial troubles now play out in the public eye.
— Dietrich Gosser, Derrick Herbster, Dave Biefer, Katie Diaz, Erin Weber, Courtney Gosser, Alyssa Taylor, Matt Roberston, Troy Migut, Sarah Alt, Peter Baisden, Mitch Below, Zoe Devorkin, Jack Neiweem, Camilo Flechas, Willie Thurlow, Michelle Grosso, Maggie Flesher, Synjin Myrckvika, Renee Fredrickson, Nelle Rutecki, Dylan Carlson, Marilyn Matt, Kenny Monroe, Kelly Geary, Mark Bystrom, Mark Scheiber, Micah Lemmons, Nisse Lovendahl, Emily Julka, Maggie Roovers, Kelsey Bausch, Ed Hong, Abigail Zielke, Laura Romanski, Helen Hawley.
It’s essential that articles like this are available to the public for protection. Know that if you’ve been on the bad end of a business deal, it’s very likely you are not alone. The hard part is speaking out so others know.
— Kristie Schilling, via Facebook
As a restaurant owner you agree to pay your taxes. You agree to pay your vendors. And you agree to uphold leases with other people and other businesses. Stated facts are not gossip.
— Sarah Reilly, via Facebook
The ALRC dropped the ball. The [alcohol] license should never have been transferred until [Hunter] had proof in writing that his legal troubles were taken care of. Yes, I was at that ALRC meeting and it was a sham.
— Tim Wagner, via Facebook
As the holidays approach and we are all encouraged to shop local, I was deeply disappointed to see the piece about the legal troubles of Jonny Hunter and Underground Food Collective. I found myself asking, “Is this necessary? Is there no better news story?” How about shining light on what can be done to help our fellow community members and local business owners this time of year? Or others who are simply struggling to put food on the table. We’ve all got our burdens and mistakes to bear; this “naughty list” piece impacts not one person, but many families. What a grim message to send this season; You can and should revive a spirit of shining light and building community vs. throwing mud.
— Danika Laine Brubaker, via email
