Local Restaurants During All This.
It’s been quiet around here lately.
It would seem like, for the most part, we have all begun to settle into a sort of rhythm in all of this. I've found it terribly interesting to see how quickly society has realigned itself - falling into perfectly spaced lines while waiting outside of grocery stores, stepping off the sidewalk and onto the road when someone is walking towards you, trying to impose your emotions beyond the confines of your face mask by smiling with your eyes to make sure the young person ringing your onions and avocados through knows they are appreciated - the new normal, I guess. I've even found myself stopping 6 feet back from the car in front of me when I pull up to a red light. Not to mention the fact that you all knew exactly what I was talking about by simply referring to "this" at the beginning of this blog post – the word "this" has become short-hand to describe the alarmingly complex and novel situation we have found ourselves in, a concept likely instilled in us via that equally novel, and now ubiquitous question: "how are you doing in all this?"
But in terms of this blog, I have been so gripped by the sense of unknown created by COVID-19 that I have not really known what to say. For a while, it seemed everywhere I turned online there was some article with a catchy, click-worthy title: “Five Ways to Pivot Your Food Business,” or “How to Pandemic-Proof Your Restaurant!” While I wondered where these people got their evidence from, I suppose the conviction with which they wrote was at least a little impressive. It is certainly brave to be offering up advice during what we all have come to know as these “uncertain times.” Anyone who is brokering any degree of certainty should be approached with the same caution you would afford greeting your neighbor whose backyard seems host to an ever-increasingly large “social bubble” – keep a safe distance at all times.
As such, you’ll find very little advice here in this post. It serves, I suppose, as a sort of reflection, spurred by the outbreak of COVID-19, on the restaurant industry.
It is difficult to overstate the toll COVID-19 has taken on restaurants, and many of the ramifications for our industry have yet to truly come to light. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s how precarious the restaurant industry really is. Even pre-COVID, it would seem that restaurants have faced a number of challenges over the last while, whether they be staff shortages – “no one wants to be a cook anymore” – or questions surrounding workplace culture and mental health, to name just a couple. Whether these are perennial issues in restaurants or are unique to our times is a debate in and of itself, but one thing is for certain: all of the existing issues in the restaurant industry have been greatly exacerbated by the effects of COVID-19.
The modern, independent restaurant already operates on razor thin margins. No one (in their right mind) gets into restaurants for the money; it is an industry borne almost entirely of dreams, passions, and hard work. When the pandemic first hit, and the province of Ontario declared a state of emergency, the restaurant and hospitality industries were some of the first to feel its immediate effects. As restaurant owners stacked their chairs and tables in the corner, seemingly everyone else in the world raided grocery stores to stock up for a period of indefinite isolation.
When some business did begin to trickle back, it was in a new form – “takeout and delivery only.” Dining rooms turned into pseudo-storage warehouses, with boxes of takeout containers covering the surfaces of tables and bars. Sure, this was an opportunity for some businesses to shore up labour costs and find out how down to the bone they could staff while still successfully running their operations. But in the same breath, many restaurants were forced to turn to third party delivery platforms, like Uber Eats or Skip the Dishes, who take alarmingly large cuts of each sale (up to 30%). While these massive companies quickly drew up marketing campaigns that alleged to provide support to the industry, smaller independent restaurants gritted their teeth, cobbled together a team of staff who were willing to work during a global health pandemic, and did what they could to pay suppliers and make rent. Yes, these delivery services are perhaps a necessary evil, in order to make sure everyone stays at home as much as possible. But the traditional brick and mortar restaurant, as it has existed until today, simply cannot survive by using these services.
When the province of Ontario announced the opening of patios and open-air dining in Phase 2, most in the industry were excited by the prospect of a return to some degree of normality. Many municipalities worked with the provincial government to cut through some of the usual tape surrounding outdoor patios, providing expansions to current areas and allowing for others to have seating out onto the sidewalk. The City of Guelph, for example, has created the Downtown Guelph Dining District, a project which closes the main intersection of downtown to pedestrian-only use. The half dozen or so restaurants which border the area are allowed to have large patios that sprawl out onto the street, where a humdrum of busy traffic used to be.
These are excellent and important forms of support for the restaurant industry. With the warm and dry summer we’ve had in the area so far, many local restaurants have seen a return to normal sales figures, while others have smashed previous records by doubling and even tripling their highest monthly sales to date. At the same time, many restaurants, some who are just a few steps away from the Dining District, have been unable to expand their patios, or even have one at all, if city officials decide the spacing or logistics does not allow for it. These restaurants have seen further sales declines – on top of already dwindling COVID-19 numbers – as many people understandably choose to spend their time and money on beautiful patios, as opposed to staying at home and eating take-out on the couch. It is important that these types of support, like the Downtown Guelph Dining District, are dealt out universally, and not awarded through some lottery of proximity, with certain restaurants being able to triple their standard seating capacity while others struggle to get a table or two approved.
Cue Phase 3 and the province allowing for restaurants to have limited indoor seating – a move that received a great deal of speculation. Restaurants that chose to open portions of their dining rooms were quickly stigmatized as irresponsible, unsafe, and even greedy. Admittedly, after months of isolation and social distancing, it is odd to imagine sitting indoors in the close-quarters and convivial atmosphere of a restaurant. Even still, while these restaurants have a huge obligation to adhere to the safety guidelines put out by health officials, the businesses that choose to re-open in this way should not be written off so hastily. It has been deemed that there is a safe way to operate in this capacity, and should a restaurant owner decide to operate according to these protocols, they should be able to do so free of judgment or stigma. No one is forcing anyone to enter the dining room of a restaurant, but many of these restaurants are forced to try and do whatever they can to stay afloat.
Restaurants are a microcosm of the complexity of COVID-19 and the ramifications it has for society; some solutions seem to provide meaningful support to many, while, at the same time, these very same decisions actively leave others behind. There have been many heartwarming tales of community and coming-together to get through the pandemic, and yet, just as many stories of struggle and failure that are perhaps less palatable.
As we amble through this, its important to remember the novelty of the situation at-hand; no one really has the answers and we are all trying to just figure this out as we go. In navigating through COVID-19, our thoughts and actions should be guided by empathy, as all of our actions – whether you’re a cook, restaurateur, food blogger, or simply a customer – have effects that will leave their marks on the future of the restaurant industry.
