NORCROSS, Ga. — The Local Peach in Norcross has until roughly next year to complete $11,000 in building upgrades or risk shutting down.
GNR Public Health officials say the city-owned building needs repairs to meet food service code requirements. The list includes a new commercial hot water system, upgraded wall finishes in the kitchen and bathrooms, sealed baseboards and other improvements.
“This is beyond our ability and so we are asking our community and our friends to help us so that we can continue to provide for them,” co-owner Briana Murray told Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson.
Murray says she and her wife, Chef Nona Johnson, are turning to the community that has supported them since opening in February 2022.
The scratch kitchen sources ingredients from farms within 30 miles and has become a gathering spot for neighbors. Johnson, who has cooked professionally for nearly 30 years, serves breakfast on weekends featuring homemade biscuits and farm-fresh ingredients.
“Being able to feed people and nurture them with food and love is top tier because we all need to eat,” said Johnson.
The couple launched an online fundraiser and say the response has been overwhelming. Within days, donations brought them close to their goal.
But there’s still uncertainty ahead.
The owners operate on a month-to-month lease after their three-year lease expired with the Downtown Development Authority of the City of Norcross.
“They changed it when they moved us to a month-to-month lease,” said Murray. “Anything having to do with the kitchen is now on us.”
The situation mirrors an earlier challenge for the owners when a massive power outage two months after opening threatened their inventory. Neighbors showed up with generators and empty freezers to save their food.
“We feel the community come up and go, ‘Come on. We can do it. We got you,’” said Johnson.
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