Loves opening restaurants, struggles with closing them
Jason Santos trying to deal with coronavirus
Boston restaurant owner Jason Santos couldn’t sleep Sunday night, knowing he’d have to tell most of his 150 employees Monday they were going to lose their jobs.
“It’s brutal,” Santos told me, “and at the same time there’s nothing I can do.”
On Sunday, Gov. Charlie Baker ordered all Massachusetts restaurants to close, except for take-out and delivery service, starting Tuesday until April 7 amid the global coronavirus crisis.
Santos, the blue-haired TV chef and owner of Buttermilk & Bourbon, Citrus & Salt and Abby Lane, made the rounds Monday delivering the grim news to his cooks, servers, dishwashers, bartenders, hosts, office workers and cleaners.
Many were in tears. A few just had babies. One employee showed up to work, unaware of the shutdown.
Laying off 142 employees, Santos said, is the hardest thing he’s ever had to do.
“It’s horrible. One of my favorite things that I enjoy about this business and my success thus far is that I can give people a good life,” said Santos, who said paying his staff more than they’ve ever made makes him happy. “To have to turn around and say, ‘Sorry, you’ve got to figure it out for the next month’ is so surreal to me.”
Santos, 44, is trying to help his employees as much as he can. He’s helping them set up unemployment and invited them to take food home from his restaurants.
“We’re just backed up against a wall and there’s just only so much we can or can’t do,” Santos said.
It’s the unknown, Santos said, that makes the situation scary, but he understands the shutdown is essential.
“It’s everybody’s well-being and income but it’s better than dying and getting people sick,” Santos said. “I’d rather do this now than later and have it be way worse. It’s just a necessary evil.”
Santos spoke to me from Buttermilk & Bourbon on Commonwealth Avenue, which opened three years ago and will continue to offer take-out and delivery service. Santos is temporarily closing his other two restaurants, Abby Lane, which opened eight years ago, and Citrus & Salt, which opened two years ago.
For Santos, his restaurants are his livelihood, his hobby, his everything. He grew up in Melrose and got his first paid cooking job at age 15. He’s going to miss not being busy.
“I’ve made a life out of opening restaurants,” Santos said. “This is something I never thought I would see in my lifetime.”
When this is over, Santos hopes people come back to restaurants more than ever before.
We all hope so, too.