It appears that when we emerge from this coronavirus crisis, it will not be all at once but in segments, perhaps industry by industry. It’s anybody’s guess how long the restaurant industry, one of the hardest hit, can hold out.
The National Restaurant Association says that since March 1, the industry has lost more than 3 million jobs and $25 billion in sales. In late March, there were widespread predictions of an additional 50% of restaurant operators having to make further job cuts. The state of Rhode Island, led by Gov. Gina M. Raimondo, is making every effort to keep the industry from falling off the cliff.
Raimondo has been most empathetic to the owner-operated restaurant community. She has shown great leadership and restraint by keeping restaurants open for curbside takeout or delivery while closing dining rooms to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The state gave a real boost to the industry by allowing eateries to include beer and wine in takeout orders, which has since been copied in Massachusetts.
Still, a number of restaurants in the state shut their doors at least temporarily over concerns of emmployees contracting the virus. CAV Inc. in Providence, which had started out attempting to stay open for takeout, put itself “on pause” in late March.
Newport Restaurant Group posted on its website that all of its restaurants were on hiatus: “When normalcy returns, our team of familiar faces will welcome you in with open arms.”
A small number of places closed permanently, such as Red Stripe in East Greenwich. At least one other – Bravo LLC in Providence – bid a permanent farewell on social media only to retract it a couple of weeks later.
There are bright spots.
The innate goodness of restaurateurs that has been so welcome during times of trouble in the past has risen to the top. Local restaurants are donating meals and ingredients to those in need, starting with their own unemployed staffs.
Several Newport restaurants, including Lobster Bar and Scratch Kitchen & Catering, are delivering meals to the staff of Newport Hospital. Perella’s Ristorante Corp. in Warren is offering a 25% discount on any takeout meal purchased for first responders. As chef-proprietor Lou Perella stated on social media, “We know this is a very difficult time for everyone, [and] the restaurant industry and frontline workers are [among those going through] the most devastating times right now.”
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TEMPORARY CLOSURE: Bar C‘ino in Newport is one of the 13 members that make up the Newport Restaurant Group, all of which are on hiatus during the coronavirus pandemic. However, the group recently started a relief fund to support its more than 700 employees. / PBN PHOTO/ANNE EWING[/caption]
The Newport Restaurant Group launched a relief fund to provide aid to its more than 700 employees. As of April 1, the group of 13 restaurant concepts is donating all proceeds of its gift-card purchases to the fund until it reaches $100,000. Funds will then be distributed via grocery gift cards to employees.
Across the country, besieged restaurateurs and workers are helping as they are being helped. For example, in San Francisco, an ad hoc group of friends who dined out together in other times sought donations and purchased meals from local restaurants to deliver to health care workers at hospitals. Now, 42 restaurants are preparing hundreds of meals to feed frontline workers in emergency rooms and intensive care units of the city’s six biggest hospitals.
There are some good stories of businesses holding their own on restaurant row. Local business owners such as the Smiths of Smith Harbor House LLC, which operates 15 Point Road in Portsmouth, are advising customers on social media the best times to call for takeout to avoid busy phone lines. Sam Glynn of Chomp Kitchen and Drinks in Warren disclosed that his staff – cut by more than 50% – is preparing several hundred meals for takeout within a four-hour window nightly.
Glynn observed, “It has been an ongoing joke for many years at Chomp that everyone in Rhode Island likes to eat at 6 p.m. During our ‘shutdown’ this has never been more true.”
Bob Burke of Pot au Feu is adding his signature panache to these times, suggesting that his takeout customers dress up for a night in and has received dozens of photos of his customers doing just that.
Lists of restaurants offering takeout and delivery can be found at goprovidence.com. For Newport and the East Bay, discovernewport.org is maintaining a list, too.
Bruce Newbury’s “Dining Out” radio talk show is heard Saturdays at 11 a.m. on 1540 AM WADK, on radio throughout New England, through various mobile applications and his podcast. Email Bruce at Bruce@brucenewbury.com.