The long road back

Chef Mark Hix is starting over

It has been a funny old week. I know I should be feeling elated. Finally all Covid restrictions on hospitality businesses have been lifted and my pub and restaurant can, for the very first time since I took them over last year, trade normally.

But somehow it doesn’t seem quite so momentous. Covid hasn’t gone away. Indeed cases are rising again, even down here in the southwest, albeit from a low base. So the fear remains that this may be another brief summer taste of liberty, before winter returns with something more restrictive.

And then I find myself wondering how much actually changed in my world on Monday. At The Oyster & Fish House in Lyme, we have been able to add two or three extra indoor tables now social-distancing rules have gone. Over at The Fox Inn in Corscombe, the impact has been greater. What I’ve noticed most is the people standing in the bar area. Under regulations it was all table service by our staff. Now you can order your own drinks.

Not many customers linger there, though. We are all still a bit nervous when it comes to bunching up in crowds. So drinkers often hurriedly order, pick up their glasses and head back outside to the tables.

But then I’ve always wanted The Fox to be a proper pub, since I took it on last autumn, and finally that dream has come true. A proper pub needs a bar area with people in it. Now we’ve (almost) got it back, so it is one reason to be cheerful.

And takings will go up, though the reality is that, for the last couple of months with our outdoor areas and indoor distancing, we have been operating at about 80 per cent of capacity already. So the change for us this week is small, though I am elated for all those hospitality venues without decent outdoor space who can now finally open at full capacity – if they are still in business.

You can, I am sure, sense my hesitation. I think the real reason is about me. My main reaction to this latest, and final, stage of unlocking is mostly one of weariness. After all these months of worry, turmoil and weathering the storm, my strongest instinct is to give thanks that I am still standing. It’s been quite an ordeal for anyone trying to keep a pub or a restaurant going, and not one that we will quickly put behind us – financially, emotionally or psychologically.

And there remain uncertainties. The whole question of mask-wearing has been devolved by the Government to individuals (although ministers are still giving ‘recommendations’ about what should happen). If you run a pub or restaurant, though, you still have to decide what is right for your customers and staff.

The teams at the Fish House and The Fox are carrying on wearing masks. Most are young and very few have been double-jabbed, so they are conscious of the risks. Our sanitisation procedures are remaining in place. Customers can choose what works for them regarding masks, but I worry that with so many competing points of view I risk pleasing no one.

Amid all of these tough questions, it was a bit of relief this week to slip away to support an exciting new venture in Lyme. I broadcast my local radio show from our new Seaside Store, set up by a community trust. Its aim is to promote healthy eating and well-being for all, including those on a tight budget, and people who just can’t bear to see good food going to waste or, worse, into landfill.

So it collects a whole range of fresh produce – fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and bread – as well as tinned goods from shops, supermarkets, local residents, gardeners and allotment holders who have a surplus, or stuff about to hit its sell-by date. For £3.50 you can chose 10 items, whether to top up your weekly shop or stop items going to waste. All the fruit, veg and bread is free. The set-up is trying to take away the stigma and social division that can go with food banks.

As we get to grips with our new freedoms, it is one of those developments that really gives me hope for the future, and how we are going to put fine words about building back better

after the pandemic into practice.

I worry that with so many competing points of view I risk pleasing no one