Amid virus, restaurants forced into an adapt-or-die approach
NEW YORK — When the coronavirus roared into New York, chef Anna Klinger wouldn’t let it put a fork in her restaurant.
Al di La, the Brooklyn trattoria she runs with her husband, Emiliano Coppa, hadn’t done much takeout until then. Their northern Italian food simply didn’t travel well. Now it had to.
Because tagliatelle has a tendency to glue itself together into a ball, Klinger cooked it less and added more sauce. She offered Negroni cocktails to go and pints of her ice cream. She slimmed down the menu.
Now the kitchen is waiting to pivot again — anticipating the day diners can return, in masks, of course, 6 feet apart. Klinger vows to do what it takes.
“What choice do we have?” she asked. “There are so many lives that are tangled with this restaurant, not just our own. And we still love it and we still do it every day. I can’t imagine not doing it.”
The virus has decimated the restaurant industry, leaving millions unemployed and shuttering countless spots for good. Many dine-in restaurants have turned to delivery or takeout. Some have become food banks or trading posts.
“It’s either you adapt or you die,” said Octavio Olivas, chef and owner of Ceviche Project in Los Angeles. “Just keep hustling.”
According to the Department of Labor, the leisure and hospitality industry suffered its most brutal month ever in April when nearly 51⁄2 million chefs, waiters, cashiers and other restaurant staff lost employment. But the sector rebounded somewhat in May with an addition of more than 1.2 million jobs.
TV host and cookbook author Padma Lakshmi has no doubt the pandemic will change the restaurant landscape, with many locations unable to weather the storm.
“Most restaurants operate on a very slim margin. And even really big restaurants by very famous chefs often pay their invoices from 45 days ago with the earnings from today,” she said. “You can see how very quickly that would be a house of cards.”
Restaurants that survived with takeout during the initial days of COVID-19 are gradually opening their doors to welcome patrons to a very different dining experience.
In California, the public health department mandates that bar areas be closed, menus be disposable and waiters not pour water tableside. Patrons must wear masks to the bathroom, and salt and pepper shakers may not be left on the tables.
“It’s like opening up a new restaurant in a whole new world,” said Kevin Meehan, co-owner and chef at the Michelinstarred Kali in Los Angeles. “It’s like a ‘Top Chef’ challenge, if anything.”
Kali, a seasonal California restaurant, closed its doors March 13, and Meehan sheltered with his family for three weeks, preparing meals daughters.
Then he took baby steps back, dipping into a rainyday restaurant fund to hire back a small group of workers to make takeout. He decided on family-style comfort food, adding written instructions on reheating.
“Fine dining is creating memories. And how do you do that via a bag out of a box?” he said. “I wanted to make them comforting and delicious at the same time. So I put on the back burner being the creative, chef artist.”
Kali used to offer five lunch servings and seven dinner seatings a week. The virus cut it down to just four takeout dinners a week, with income dipping to as little as 25% of pre-virus levels.
Recently, Kali took its first steps to welcoming patrons in again. On top of everyday health codes, Meehan has had to comply with new antivirus mandates. He and his business partner have taken notes on how other restaurants in the area are reopening.
What if a patron forgets to wear a mask? Meehan has devised a clever way to remind them: His masked servers gently point to a sticker on their chest that says, “Please hide your smile.”
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