WE’LL EAT AGAIN!
RESTAURANTS, PUBS AND BARS GET READY FOR THE BIG RE-OPENING
IN just under three weeks, if all goes according to plan, pubs and restaurants will be allowed to reopen their outside spaces.
For hospitality businesses in Greater Manchester, it will be the first time they’ve been able to welcome customers since early November.
It’s been the longest period that most have been closed since the pandemic began, thanks to last year’s tier system forcing closures even before the current lockdown started.
And if the surge in demand for bookings is anything to go by, Mancunians are eager to get back to their favourite restaurants and thirsty for that first proper pint.
Local operators say they’ve been ‘blown away’ by the number of reservations flooding in, with many already fully booked throughout April and well into May.
So great is the demand that anyone wanting to visit 20 Stories on a Saturday night, for example, will be waiting until mid-June.
According to the Government’s roadmap, outside hospitality should begin to reopen from April 12, five weeks before the proposed reopening of indoor restaurant and bar spaces. Even then, people will only be allowed to visit with one other household, up to a maximum of six people.
But despite the restrictions in place – and the temperamental Mancunian weather – table reservations at most city centre venues have vanished throughout April.
Tim Reynolds is director of operations at Kimpton Clocktower hotel, which is home to The Refuge restaurant.
He said: “We opened bookings last Monday night at 7pm and I would say it was chaos. It’s a lot busier than we expected and there’s a lot more enthusiasm than we expected.”
Simon Shaw is chef patron at El Gato Negro, which will be doing an al fresco pop-up until it can fully open its King Street restaurant.
He said: “It’s been unbelievable. The level of enquiries received has exceeded all expectations, with bookings significantly over and above that of which we saw during Eat Out To Help Out.
“The first week of our spring event, Tapas on the Terrace, was fully booked in less than 24 hours, with the remaining weeks filling quickly.”
It’s a similar story down the road at 20 Stories, where marketing manager Becky Wilkes says the rooftop terrace is also already fully booked.
She said: “Within the first 48 hours of opening the books for 20 Stories, we received an amazing 5,259 covers for the terrace, all for dates between April 12 and May 16, prior to indoor hospitality opening and we are now fully booked during that time.
“We are now averaging roughly 250 dining covers per day and we are keeping half of the terrace open for drinks on a walk-in basis.
“When speaking to our guests who have booked, the excitement from them has been amazing.
“People have booked time off work to join us in our opening week and we can’t thank them enough for their support.”
Although the demand is a reassuring sign, it does nothing to appease those businesses who simply do not have outside space, or the funds to get outside space ready for operating in less than a month’s time.
It’s why Sacha Lord has launched another legal battle to allow indoor venues to reopen at the same time.
David Fox, Tampopo co-founder, said they’ve taken hundreds of bookings for their Albert Square restaurant. But as a note of caution, he said: “All in all, it is still a s***show for hospitality.
“The sooner we can open to dine inside customer the better. On April 17 I can go for a massage, get a haircut, get my nails done or pick through the sales rail of shirts surrounded by loads of people, but I can’t go for a romantic meal for two with my wife despite the fact we live together. Analyse that.”