Dan keen to get back in the kitchen
POPULAR EATERY SET TO RE-OPEN, BUT CAPACITY CUT BY TWO THIRDS
CUSTOMERS will be welcomed back to a popular Kanturk restaurant set to re-open on Monday after almost four months’ closure due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
The proprietor of Corkery’s Restaurant in the Duhallow town, Dan Twomey, has issued an appeal to customers to adapt to the new circumstances which are in place due to social distancing as his restaurant has had to adapt.
“Normally the capacity in the restaurant is 45 – now we will be down to 14 or 15 customers,” Dan told The Corkman.
“I’d appeal to people who are working together to consider taking their lunch together at the same table so as to make the limited spaces available to other customers.
“We’re very lucky to have a large and very loyal customer base – some customers have been coming here since we opened in 1989,” he added.
Corkery’s used to serve drink but stopped in 1999, apart from the ‘very occasional glass of wine’.
Other precautions being adapted by the restaurant, which specialises in a lunchtime trade offering workers and families a choice of four main courses, include masks for waiting staff: “The person serving tables will be wearing a mask as much for their protection as it is for the protection of customers,” Dan said.
He added that he had been told by the Environmental Health Officer that issues such as social distancing wouldn’t be within their remit.
“Apparently there’s a new section after being set up with 67 people employed to inspect premises for compliance with social-distancing guidelines throughout the whole country – that’s a heavy burden for a small workforce,” he said.
He said that he was looking forward to re-opening the restaurant. “If we weren’t going to re-open on Monday, the question would arise as to when we would re-open,” he said. “We’re opening now and looking forward to meeting our customers again.”