Cistín Eile ready for the challenge of re-opening
WHEN Warren Gillen opened the doors of his restaurant Cistín Eile on South Main Street a decade ago, it was in the midst of difficult times. The impact of the recession was very much still being felt and opening a business may have been considered a bold move. Now the award winning chef is facing a further challenge posed by Covid-19 as he and his staff look to re-open for the first time since March 18.
Social distancing has now become the burning issue for the hospitality sector. The Restaurant Association of Ireland is lobbying hard for a reduction from 2 metres to one metres - one that would make all the difference to business owners like Warren.
‘Realistically, the 2m distance can’t work,’ he said. ‘I would hope that by June 29, the government will have reduced the recommended distance to one metre in line with recommendations of the World Health Organisation. At two metres, we’d be losing about 50% of our capacity. With one metre, hopefully we could have a little more.’
Not seeking to throw in the towel just yet, Warren and his team are ready to adapt to the challenge of Covid-19.
‘We’ll proceed with getting things ready to re-open and spacing out tables and getting all of the proper hand-washing facilities etc in place,’ he said defiantly.
‘The staff are training in that stuff at the moment. At the moment, we’re looking at re-opening in the first week of July. We have to open in some capacity. For people like me, we are our businesses. You just have to adapt and do what you can.’
To this end, Warren is looking at some innovations. Among them, offering his award-winning food to go including options to buy a meal for a dinner party of six people or so at home, for those who perhaps aren’t comfortable with venturing out to a restaurant just yet.
‘It will be different, we know that,’ Warren said. ‘But we’ve had great support from the public and our loyal customers.
‘I’ve had texts and messages from lots of people and really that’s kept me going and motivated. The demand seems to be there and we’re looking forward to re-opening. I suppose for Wexford, it’s back to basics and the local community and local businesses will have to work together to build ourselves back up again.’