Restaurateur’s ups and downs of pandemic.
Cape Breton restaurateur experiencing ups and downs of pandemic
SYDNEY — Danny Ellis doesn’t know whether to be ecstatic or frustrated.
On one hand, the longtime Sydney restaurateur reports that the return to outdoor dining and the subsequent re-opening of his Sydney waterfront eatery, Portside Beer Garden, has been a roaring success. On the other hand, he acknowledged that his proposed Portside Port Hawkesbury operation is in jeopardy of not getting off the ground this year.
And of course, the COVID-19 pandemic is the root cause of both the ups and the downs presently being experienced by Nova Scotia’s hospitality industry. Indeed, the food and beverage sector took a hard hit on April 28 when Premier Iain Rankin announced a province-wide lockdown that shut down all dining operations except for takeaway.
However, the first phase of the re-opening plan allowed establishments to serve guests on patios and decks given that social distancing requirements were observed. According to Ellis, Portside Sydney boomed after opening to customers longing for a sit-down meal at a local restaurant.
“The first seven days that Portside was open this year were the best seven days I’ve ever had and that’s during some days that were pretty cool,” said Ellis, whose holdings also include the nearby Boardwalk Taproom and Eatery, Daniel’s Alehouse and Eatery and the Henry Street Pub. “We had a record-breaking week from when we opened. It was absolutely shocking. We kept having to run out for more
food and for more booze. We’re having a banner year, but that could change when they bring back indoor dining. That could water down the crowd a bit.”
In the meantime, Ellis’ other operations are probably more reflective of the state of an industry, which employs thousands of workers, that has suffered since the start of the pandemic.
“Great, great news for Portside, but Daniel’s takeout has been dismal, the Henry Street Pub is closed and the Taproom is closed,” he said. “I took a walk through the Taproom the other day, it was shiny, nice and ready to go, but it felt so empty, we had to take all the stock out so it wouldn’t go bad.”
Ellis also had high hopes for an early summer opening of his proposed Portside Port Hawkesbury venture. He had already negotiated the use of the Station House on Water Street, which as the name implies is located a stone’s throw from the Canso Strait.
Now, he’s not so sure that will happen.
“We’re still limping along trying to jump through all the hoops that are out there,” said the 40-year veteran of the restaurant business. “We’ve signed a lease and we’ve prepared a liquor application but we haven’t finalized it yet because part of that application is zoning approval which was passed just last week at (Town of Port Hawkesbury) council and still needs a minister’s signature before it can be an official amendment.”
Ellis said the five-week ban on inter-municipality travel also set the opening back as he was unable to train the new Port Hawkesbury staff. However, he estimated that the work required to prepare the building and surrounding area for business will take less than 30 days.
“We could in theory be open sometime in July, but we have to look at whether it is worth it to open for a period of just six to eight weeks,” he mused.
Alas, the longtime entrepreneur has been in the hospitality industry for a long time and he’s well aware of the volatility of the business. But never before has Ellis, and the entire food and beverage sector for that matter, faced the uncertainty that has become a by-product of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As vehicles crossed the overpass near Vince Muise Memorial Ball Park in Sydney River, the sounds of everyday life were overtaken by laughter on the field.
Monday evening marked the opening of the Sydney and District Little League’s mini program and, despite recent challenges, the fouryear-old players made the most of the experience under a sunny, blue sky.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sydney and District Little League didn’t offer programming last summer, like most Little League associations across the country, meaning Monday’s practice, for some, was their first time on a baseball field.
Following provincial guidelines, the players were split into groups of 10 and took part in hitting, fielding and running drills.
As the drills went on, there was no shortage of smiles and laughter from players and coaches — something which has been missing from many lives over the past 14 months — some may even have forgotten what it felt like.
Off the playing field, many mask-wearing parents were taking pictures of their son or daughter while cheering them on from a distance, allowing the coaches to work with the kids in a safe environment.
Although the pandemic has affected our everyday lives, Monday was an opportunity for players, coaches and parents to take a step back, forget about the COVID-19 situation and just enjoy being at the ballfield again.
However opening day didn’t come without heartbreak for Sydney and District Little League organizers.
As reported by the Cape Breton Post this week, one of the organization’s equipment sheds — near the McCormick field off Cabot Street in Sydney — was broken into and all the equipment for the under10 program stolen.
Organizers don’t know when the theft occurred. Among the stolen items were a bag of bats and helmets, 10 dozen baseballs, recently purchased rubber bases, a field marker and jerseys.
An estimated cost to replace the stolen equipment was unknown, but the association has received donations from the baseball community, both locally and nationally, to purchase new equipment.
Although the stolen equipment didn’t affect the fouryear-old program, the sadness of the crime was felt by all members of the association — some were still talking about the incident at the field Monday.
Despite the crime, which was discovered 24 hours before the start of the season, Sydney and District Little League hasn’t slowed down.
Following the discovery of the theft, it would have been easy to pack things up and wait until next week to start, but instead organizers kept moving forward, proving the crime wouldn’t stop them from beginning the new season on time.
Let’s face it, the crime has been committed and the odds of the equipment being returned are slim to none.
Instead of focusing on those who committed the act, nothing is more important, especially in this day in age, than watching your child or grandchild playing and having fun again — a sense of normalcy that many have missed over the last 14 months.
While the equipment is replaceable, and Cape Bretoners will make it happen in one way or another, the smiles on the kids’ face outweighs the negativity of stolen gear and the pandemic, and that’s a reason to remain motivated for better things to come this summer.
To all Little League players in Cape Breton, best of luck this summer and enjoy every minute on the ballfield because what we’ve learned over the past year and a half is don’t take things for granted and live life to the fullest.
MONTREAL — There are a number of things the Canadiens have to do if they hope to turn the tables on the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of their Stanley Cup semifinal at T-Mobile Arena tonight.
They have to find a way to stay out of the penalty box.
They have to find a way to get some bodies in front of Vegas goaltender Marc-André Fleury.
They have to win faceoffs at the right time.
And they have to hope that defenceman Jeff Petry is back in the lineup sooner rather than later.
The Golden Knights posted a 4-1 win Game 1 Monday night and the consensus in the Canadiens’ post-game interviews was that the penalties robbed Montreal of any momentum it had in the first period.
“It was the penalties we took in the second period,” said coach Dominique Ducharme. “They killed our rhythm. I liked our first period. We could’ve taken the lead at the start of the game. I think the three or four penalties we took in the second period really hurt us.”
This is one of those situations that could have gone either way. The Montreal penalty kill was perfect in the Winnipeg sweep and went 4-for-4 Monday, which should have given the Canadiens a lift. But, after killing a penalty at the end of the first period and another at the start of the second, Vegas scored just 11 seconds after the second penalty expired to take a 2-0 lead.
Vegas outshot Montreal 30-28, but those numbers are deceiving. After a strong first period, the Montreal offence put little pressure on Fleury and there was no pushback in the third period until the dying minutes when Montreal pulled Carey Price for an extra attacker.
The lone Montreal goal was a power-play effort from rookie Cole Caufield. It was his first NHL playoff goal and his parents were in the building to witness it.
“It was pretty special to have them at the game,” said Caufield who led the Canadiens with six shots on goal. “It was really special just to have them in the same country as I am, honestly. It was a really special feeling. Obviously, it wasn’t the result we wanted, but we’ll be back on Wednesday for more.
Though faceoffs are not one of Montreal’s strengths, the Canadiens won 56 per cent of the draws Monday. But the game proved that it doesn’t matter how many faceoffs you win much as when you win — or, in this case, lose — them. Two of the Vegas goals were scored after the Canadiens lost defensive zone faceoffs.
The score would have been more lopsided if Price hadn’t made big saves on Mark Stone and Jonathan Marchessault, but his teammates had trouble with a style that features a heavy net presence and active defencemen who accounted for 18 of the Golden Knights’ 30 shots on goal.
There was some concern that Vegas would dominate the game physically, but that wasn’t the case. Montreal outhit the home team 52-44.
“We need our four lines and our six defencemen,” said Ducharme. “We want to be more consistent and we want to be better. We have players who had a good game, while others didn’t. Right now, we can’t allow that to happen. I think our four lines can be more consistent.”
And that brings us to Petry. Without him, the Canadiens have a top three and three other guys rotating in positions where they are least likely to be a liability.