With Peterborough among those Ontario regions permitted to proceed with stage two of Ontario’s COVID-19 recovery plan starting this Friday, local restaurants and café owners are now grappling with the new normal as they prepare for their patios’ now-allowed reopening.
kawarthaNOW reached out to three local restaurant owners to find out their plans.
Ashburnham Ale House
“It was a bit of a shocker to hear Premier Doug Ford say that we could go ahead on Friday (June 12),” admits Scott Wood, owner of the Ashburnham Ale House (128 Hunter Street East, Peterborough, 705-874-0333) that opened its doors in 2013.
“When I heard we that we are going to be allowed to open just the patio, I thought ‘There’s going to be a lot of disappointed people that come to our door and can’t get a table,” Wood says.
“So I went out and bought seven picnic tables. AGCO (Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario) has already sent an email saying no barriers are necessary. No permit or fees are required. We can serve on patios adjacent to our building. That puts us in a very enviable position, since we have some free space we can use.”
Pre-COVID, Ashburnham Ale House already had a few outdoor tables on each side of its building. Those will remain, augmented by the new tables placed on its Hunter Street East side. Wood says with a maximum of six people at each of his tables, plus a couple of tables for two, he’ll have capacity for about 70 patrons.
Wood is all for the regional reopening approach adopted by the province, agreeing fully that regions of the province that have a good handle on the pandemic — Peterborough among them — should be given the opportunity to reopen select businesses, services, and amenities.
That said, he warns no one should take that for granted, noting his business will continue to adhere to measures such as physical distancing and the wearing of face masks by front-of-house staff. As for whether or not customers feel safe enough to venture out for a bite to eat, he has no doubt.
“The fact that the phone rang 10 times yesterday within two hours of Doug Ford’s announcement speaks volumes. I think we’re going to have a lot of folks wanting to come here. My only worry at this point is the weather.”
Another aspect of the partial reopening that excites Wood is the opportunity to hire back staff. Over the past few months he kept 11 staff on to handle take-out orders, but he’s now in the process of bringing back 12 to 14 employees.
“We’ve been in a little better position than some other restaurants and pubs because we’ve been able to do take-out quite easily with the space we have,” says Wood.
“My heart goes out to folks who haven’t had that possibility, especially downtown where’s there less room to pull up and park. It’s going to be tough times to come for some of them, for sure.”
While the challenges presented by the pandemic shutdown and restrictions have been daunting, Wood says “Globally we’re all in the same predicament, so it’s not just us that been affected. A natural disaster is higher on my list of things to worry about.”
Black Honey
One of those downtown businesses that is also wrapping its operational head around the relaxing of restrictions for eateries with patios is Black Honey (221 Hunter Street West, 705-750-0024).
Owner Lisa Dixon says she suspected stage two reopenings wouldn’t be allowed until late June at the earliest. As such, she’s now preparing to open her two patios — one at the main entrance and another in back of her business — on Monday, July 6th.
“I’m hopeful by that point we will have stage three and I can open the coffeehouse as well,” says Dixon.
“With two patios, I’m in good shape that way but stage two is still not very helpful in terms of using the patios wisely. I’m prepared for the interior reopening, but I don’t now have the materials to make the patio work. I have to remove some tables, and I have to enlarge the patio.”
“If I have a line-up and people order a bunch of stuff, I have to direct them outside. A couple of things could happen. One is I have too many people and not enough tables. The other thing is I won’t have the proper coverings (if it rains or the sun is too hot). Another thing is I could have six patio tables with umbrellas, but seven groups from separate homes. I’ve looked into getting a tent, which presents an overhead cost of thousands of dollars.”
Dixon notes she doesn’t just have a responsibility for her customers, but for her staff as well.
“Who of my 24 staff am I calling back? Putting my HR hat on, where do I start? I know who wants to come back, but do I do it through seniority? Do I do it through talent?”
“On top of that, the menu has to change. When the menu changes, I have to retrain the kitchen staff and floor staff on what the new menu is. It has to be menu that works for take-out. My food is fresh. You can’t take a crepe home stuffed with fruit, it’ll be soggy. You can’t take hollandaise home and eat it by the time you get to the house. It’s a raw egg — don’t put it in the fridge and eat it tomorrow.”
Still, as challenging as it is, Dixon looks forward to reopening Black Honey’s patios, noting during the pandemic she lost some serious income when wedding catering jobs were cancelled.
“COVID has pulled the rug out from underneath us … in a way I had to start over the day we closed on March 17,” she says.
“I first told my staff ‘Don’t come to work’. Then I had to tell two people to stay. Then we redesigned the menu according to what the demands were. The demand has changed drastically — stuff we’re doing in the bakery now is quite different than what we did four or five months ago.”
Although Black Honey has been open for 15 years, Dixon says she “feels like I’m doing this all over again.”
Looking ahead, she says when a full reopening is allowed, she’s not sure Black Honey will retain the same feel she’s worked hard to nurture and provide.
“People have great conversations at Black Honey and they last three hours. Black Honey is based on fellowship and sharing, knitting and reading, and poetry and exchanging ideas. Now it’s ‘You’re going to have to leave’. I’m trying to create a business out of 50 per cent capacity.”
Still, she’s confident her strong, loyal customer base” will return, be it during stage two or whatever follows.
“I believe people will come back, but I don’t think we’re looking at the normal that we knew. I do believe if I do the reopening right, I could be a better business and get new customers.”
Terming the pandemic shutdown the biggest challenge her business has endured to date, Dixon says it has eclipsed the year she spent much of her time at Princess Margaret Hospital where her husband Mark was being treated for leukemia.
“He knows that,” she laughs, adding “I told him “This is more difficult than when you were dying.”
Kawartha Coffee Company
The opening of patios is good news for Kawartha Coffee Company, as the popular Bobcaygeon eatery has one of the largest patios in the Kawarthas.
“We are fortunate that even with the regulations of distancing we are able to keep our capacity the same at 110,” says owner Kathleen Seymour-Fagan, who is also Ward 2 councillor for the City of Kawartha Lakes.
She adds that Kawartha Coffee will have enhanced measures in place for both customers and staff “to keep everyone healthy and happy”.
This story was updated to include a quote from Kathleen Seymour-Fagan, owner of Kawartha Coffee Company in Bobcaygeon.
