Hard work, prayer and carry-out
With no drinks to pour, campaigns call for public’s help during closure
Sarah Stegner looked at the deserted dining room of her restaurant at 6 p.m. Monday and said words that perhaps no professional chef has ever uttered before:
“I was afraid it was going to be too packed.”
She was explaining why, even though she could have held a final, last-hurrah dinner at her Prairie Grass Cafe before Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s order to indefinitely close all Illinois restaurants and bars went into effect, “that’s not the right thing to do.” She said it twice.
“That’s not the right thing to do.” While a goodbye dinner would have raked in money that she, her partners and staff may desperately need in the weeks and months to come, it would also put those who love her Northbrook restaurant in jeopardy for contracting the virus. That, she was unwilling to do.
Instead, Prairie Grass, like many restaurants, is offering carry-out. I was there picking up dinner out of a sense of moral duty. Part of what gives Chicago its luster is the bountiful array of unique and delightful restaurants in and around the city, from beloved hot dog stands to world-famous 3-Michelin-star eateries. They have been there for us, framing the joyous moments of our lives — we had our 25th wedding anniversary dinner at Prairie Grass. It seems natural for customers to stand with them now that they need us most.
“So many people have texted, called, ordered curbside,” said Stegner, a James Beard Foundation Award winner, who was chef at the Ritz-Carlton for nearly 20 years. “I feel loved and supported. The plan is to keep cooking.”
That will be hard enough for Prairie Grass, in business for 16 years, a venerable age for top restaurants. In a far tighter spot are places like
Basu. “Basu” means “three pennies” in Vietnamese, an apt name for a restaurant owned by three immigrant sisters: Kim, Minah and Tran Dao. They work long hours: coffee, muffins and scones to commuters beginning 7 a.m. at the Northbrook train station — the restaurant is literally trackside — shrimp spring rolls, tofu rice bowls and ginger chicken pho until 8 p.m.
The restaurant opened quietly Feb. 22, right into the teeth of the global pandemic. Now it’s take-out only, breakfast, lunch, dinner.
“We’re so new,” said Minah, the middle sister. “Everyone here has been super supportive. They come in and buy little things to help us out.”
“We hope to make it through,” said Kim, the oldest, who owns three Lotus Banh Mi restaurants in Chicago and encouraged her younger sisters to quit good jobs — Tran was a software engineer; Minah, a nurse — and open a restaurant together. “We’re praying.”
Prayer might not be enough. Food service is the largest private-sector employer in the state, with more than half a million workers generating $30 billion in revenue.
“The reality is that just doing carry-out is not going to put a dent into things,” said Scott Weiner, owner of The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group, which closed 11 of its 12 restaurants, leaving open only three Roots Handmade Pizza locations in Chicago. “Your utilities cost the same. There are so many fixed costs. Better to reopen than to risk losing even more capital and never be able to.”
They’re just keeping their head above water.
“We’re definitely not making money. All we’re doing now is, it allows us to keep our employees, to give them a paycheck,” said Weiner. “That’s all I’m trying to do now. To help people get by.”
Gene & Georgetti, 500 N. Franklin, has been closed since a grease fire Oct. 3. Since then, owners have been dealing with insurance companies and waiting on special-order kitchen equipment.
“We were planning to be open to the public April 5,” said Michelle Durpetti, the managing partner and third-generation to run the storied steakhouse, which opened in 1941.
Now she’s trying to find way to support her workers.
“Your staff are your family,” she said.
Six months of being closed has given her a certain brass-tacks perspective.
“I don’t have a whole lot of sophisticated advice for restaurant owners,” she said. “Everything we’ve gone through doesn’t give us an advantage now. Besides, when you are in this industry, you are tenacious. You are also a person or group who thinks on their feet. Conversation is key. We’ve been on the phone all day with our accountant, PR team, and very trusted advisors, to see what we can do, and do it.
“It has been a fight from the minute the fire happened, a fight to survive. The restaurant industry has historically small margins. A hard industry. It’s never been an industry that makes people a ton of money. This is a scary, scary time. How to survive? Everybody has to absorb it, stay calm, go into solution mode.”
PART OF WHAT GIVES CHICAGO ITS LUSTER IS THE BOUNTIFUL ARRAY OF UNIQUE AND DELIGHTFUL RESTAURANTS IN AND AROUND THE CITY. THEY HAVE BEEN THERE FOR US, FRAMING THE JOYOUS MOMENTS OF OUR LIVES. IT SEEMS NATURAL FOR CUSTOMERS TO STAND WITH THEM NOW THAT THEY NEED US MOST.
It’s been two days since an elbow was bent in any bar in Illinois.
No boilermakers, gin and tonics or specialty cocktails.
As nightlife and hospitality workers grapple with an uncertain new reality — brought on by Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s decision to close bars in the state until at least March 30 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic — pleas for financial help have popped up all over the internet.
These campaigns, often dubbed “virtual tip jars,” aim to ease the burden on the thousands of people across the city and state who rely on the nightlife industry for their livelihood.
Four Entertainment Group owns and operates five bars in Lincoln Park, Bucktown, Logan Square and Wicker Park, employing upwards of 100 people. The company started a GoFundMe campaign for its employees three days ago, putting up $2,000 as an initial donation. In the two days since, another $8,000 has been raised.
David Halpern is a managing partner at Four Entertainment and oversees the company’s five bars in Chicago: Estelle’s, The Owl, Easy Bar, Remedy and aliveOne.
In recent days, Halpern said, he’s had a “humbling feeling of gratitude to all the people who are also going through financial challenges [but] still stepping up and still supporting our staff through our GoFundMe page.”
Halpern said he remains optimistic that “when the dust settles with this and we get our doors back open, everyone’s going to be reenergized.”
“There’s not a single person in my entire organization who is not looking at this as temporary and that we will get through this together.”
However, a “huge gray area” is hindering any long-term plans from being laid.
“Right now, we’re sitting on a two-week moratorium,” he said. “Deep down, we don’t feel like [on] March 31 we’re going to get back open. Yet at the same time, there hasn’t been any further communication that [bar closures will] be continued or lifted. But with all the news going on, it seems inevitable.”
Pritzker ordered bars to close by Monday night, two days after St. Patrick’s Day revelers flocked to River North and Wrigleyville for celebratory bar crawls, flouting the pleas of public health experts.
“The time for persuasion and public appeals is over,” Pritzker said earlier this week. “The time for action is here. This is not a joke. No one is immune to this, and you have an obligation to act in the best interests of all the people of this state.”
Illinois is already moving forward with initiatives designed to support families during the pandemic, including expanding unemployment insurance and demanding that utility companies cease service shut-offs and imposing late fees.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security received over 41,000 unemployment benefits claims March 16 and March 17, a representative said. Last year, the department received 4,445 claims on those two days.
Over the weekend, Pritzker requested a federal waiver to expand Medicaid coverage for affected families.
As of Thursday, 422 people in Illinois had tested positive for COVID-19. The first death attributed to the virus was recorded Monday, and three more were announced Thursday.
In an effort to stanch the outbreak, schools in Illinois have been ordered closed, restaurants are only allowed to offer delivery or carryout, and the public at large has been urged to stay at home if possible.