Appetite is there for our return
AFTER testing the waters with beer gardens, indoor eating and drinking in bars and restaurants will resume from today.
Vittoria Group’s three Leith Walk restaurants, Taste of Italy, La Favorita and Vittoria on the Walk, are among those welcoming diners.
The group’s six restaurants, owned by Tony and Angela Crolla and their sons Alberto and Leandro, will gradually reopen with a reduced capacity and strict hygiene measures in place.
Leandro said: “Like many businesses, we are adapting and learning every day but count ourselves lucky to have restaurants where social distancing is relatively easy.
“Our staff have been outstanding and pulled together to make sure the restaurants are ready to welcome customers back safely. We’re all excited to get back to business.”
Kenny blair will reopen four of the 12 establishments his buzzworks Holdings group owns, including Vic’s and The Vine, both in Prestwick, Ayrshire.
He said: “It’s all quite new, you’re trying to keep everybody safe and still have as close to what it used to be like as possible.
“We’re lucky because we’ve got a lot of very spacious venues, so we’ve found the one-metre thing a challenge but not nearly as bad as it might have been.
“We’re under no illusion that we’ll get it absolutely perfect when we open but we think we’ve got some venues that customers will enjoy coming to and I think the measures we put in place will reassure them that they’ll be looked after.”
Colin Wilkinson, managing director of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said: “The industry will be complying with guidance but it’s come late. We’re flying by the seat of our pants.”