Walking a legal line
Businesses walking the line between bar and restaurant are preparing to reopen when alert level 2 commences tomorrow.
The Government announced on Monday that New Zealand will move into level 2 at 11.59pm tonight, when people can meet physically with friends for the first time in seven weeks.
Under the level 2 rules, hospitality businesses will be able to open to customers if they are seated and separated, and each table has a single server.
They will also be required to adhere to a two-hour limit per group; a maximum of 100 people per establishment, with up to 10 people per group; and only serve alcohol with food.
At The Cobb on Main St in Palmerston North, bar staff were sanitising the liquor bottles in preparation for the reopening.
Owner Ricky Quirk said the business had suffered in the lockdown and he wanted to get bums on seats in the coming days.
Patrons of The Cobb know the premises toes the line between bar and restaurant carefully, but with about 3000 meals usually pumped out a week and an extra breakfast service starting at 8am tomorrow, Quirk was confident the tavern would work within level 2 guidelines.
There was concern punters might try to bend the rules by
‘‘There’s a lot of people who are dying to go meet their friends at the pub. It’s made us realise how many things we miss.’’
Jules Grace
Brew Union owner
ordering a meal and focusing on the alcohol, but with everyone seated they would be easy to spot.
Quirk said education would be provided to customers at the door about the parameters of what they should expect from service.
The Cobb would operate with a reduced menu, using ipads to take orders and mobile eftpos machines for payment.
The business wouldn’t be taking bookings in the hopes that high demand for a meal out would create good turnover.
A few streets over, Brew Union has been operating a clickand-collect service throughout level 3, serving meals and supplying beer from its beer garden on King St.
Owner Jules Grace said the tavern had been receiving booking requests since the level 2 announcement.
Some people had attempted to book two tables of 10, but that wouldn’t fly, Grace said.
‘‘Humans are social creatures.
There’s a lot of people who are dying to go meet their friends at the pub. It’s made us realise how many things we miss.’’
The level 2 rules were effectively Easter Weekend rules, Grace said, so patrons would only be served alcohol if their intention was to have a meal as well. The usual alcohol limits apply, so as long as customers were drinking responsibly there wouldn’t be a one-beer cap.
Damon Burt, the owner of Rosie O’grady’s on Fitzherbert Ave, was doing last-minute touchups on his outdoor seating.
He’d been receiving calls from his regulars who were excited for the taps to start flowing again.
The tavern’s patronage had moved to more of a restaurant-based hangout in the past few years, so Burt was well set up for level 2. But he said it would be difficult on Fridays and Saturdays, when people would typically stop by for a drink rather than a meal.
‘‘It’s been a tough month or two, but it’s all for the greater good. I’m just happy to be trading again, or soon.’’
Gary Wright, who owns The Celtic Inn down the Regent Arcade, opposite his other bars The Fish and Bubbles, is yet to announce when the tavern will reopen.