Vegan restaurant owner says now good time to open
‘There is business and revenue to be made during this time,’ chef says
Opening a new restaurant isn’t all that easy at the best of times, let alone during a pandemic.
“It’s been very challenging,” said Chris Cole, chef and founder of Gud Eats.
But he’s done it, along with a staff of 10 — half the initial employees he had hired for his new Regina restaurant.
After an “amazing” reception during its soft opening on the weekend, the downtown Regina restaurant opened its doors a crack on Wednesday. What normally would be a sit-down restaurant is offering takeout with curbside pickup, or delivery. Like other restaurants in the province, the dining room is closed.
A major challenge in opening a business during COVID -19 has been safety and sanitation for staff and customers.
The restaurant was supposed to open on March 20, the week the province began shutting things down.
When Gud Eats brought back its already-hired staff, employees were interviewed about their lifestyle and quarantine and isolation habits.
“We asked people to be honest with us. We made sure that we went through the symptomatic self-assessments, ‘did you know anyone that had (COVID-19),’ so we were really careful on who we brought back,” said Cole.
“Now we wear masks and gloves when we’re handling (food) and hanging out with each other. There’s a rule here, where you work and then you go home — that’s it.”
While it’s not the ideal situation, “I think it’s super exciting that we’re opening a restaurant during a pandemic while lots are closing their doors during this pandemic.”
The first Gud Eats opened as a food truck in Saskatoon in summer 2017, with a storefront that fall.
The Regina restaurant is Gud Eats’ second ever. Regina-based
Leo’s Group, which owns Leopold’s Tavern, acquired a controlling stake in the business in fall 2019.
The Saskatoon Gud Eats’ pandemic experience has proven to Cole that, rather than waiting, opening Regina’s branch now was a good idea.
“There is business and revenue to be made during this time. I feel that restaurants are an essential part of this closure and quarantining. The fact that people can still have a cooked meal brought to their place or picked up in a safe manner is something that we need right now,” said Cole, who is living temporarily in Regina to work with the new team.
Gud Eats is a vegan restaurant offering plant-based food inspired by meaty favourites — with items including chickn’ (faux-chicken) burgers and drumsticks, mac n cheez (pasta with vegan cheese) and nice cream (dairy-free, vegan frozen dessert).
That menu concept is an added reason Cole wanted to open as soon as possible.
“Veganism is more relevant now than ever, considering the state of our planet right now. All epidemics, all pandemics, are zoonotic and they come from us mistreating animals, and what we do here is literally anti that,” Cole said.
“So I feel that this is our time to really push veganism as a whole and to get people off of factory-farmed meat. And that’s really a big reason why I feel that we need to be open right now.”
Gud Eats normally has a retail area, selling grocery items, but that’s currently limited.
Cole said he didn’t want to encourage people to loiter and shop: The point right now is to be safe, thus serving customers as quickly as possible.
Gud Eats’ Regina delivery is available at doordash.com. Cole said it will expand to Skip The Dishes and Uber Eats in coming weeks.
Curbside pickup is at 1810 Smith St.