QUEENS, N.Y. - You can feel the energy from Chef JJ Johnson as he prepares one of the specialties from his FIELDTRIP Restaurant, in this case Pineapple Black Fried Rice.

Johnson made a splash with the eatery at 109 Malcolm X Boulevard in Harlem when he opened the doors in 2019. His newest location opened last month in Long Island City, Queens, inside the new Jacx and Co. Food Hall at 28-17 Jackson Avenue. It opened at a time when restaurants citywide are struggling because of COVID-19 restrictions.

"We all can't crumble”, said Johnson, a James Beard Award-winning Chef. “We say we are too small to fail, and I hope I'm one of those small guys that can keep uplifting so that one day when we come back, you will say FIELDTRIP, trekked through the storm."

Johnson says the business model of FIELDTRIP as Chef-driven fast, casual dining plus tremendous support from the Harlem community has helped get his business through these difficult times for the hospitality industry. He thinks more needs to be done to help fellow restaurant owners make it too.

"We weren't going out of business, maybe some people were, but if you look at everybody's story and you hear it all, everybody was shut down because they were told to shut down," said Johnson.

Despite the struggles, Johnson has been able to provide some light for others. Since the pandemic hit the five boroughs, he and his staff have been feeding frontline workers and families in need, serving 100,000 meals.

"My Grandfather used to say when I was a kid, be happy you have a roof and food on the table and I used to look at him and say, old man what are you talking about?”, said Johnson, who understands now more than ever what his Grandfather was talking about. “Food is one of the most important things and here we take it for granted that people just have food on the table and they don't as more and more people are unemployed, people need help."