Power outages left Bay Area restaurants scrambling
On Sunday evening, as a bomb cyclone pummeled the Bay Area, owner Matt Kosoy recorded an Instagram video in the dark at Rosalind Bakery in Pacifica. Without power and unable to use his ovens, there might be no bread in the morning, Kosoy warned.
Food businesses throughout the Bay Area lost power — and money — on Sunday as strong winds knocked over trees and downed power lines.
With Rosalind’s power in Pacifica still out late Sunday, Kosoy loaded his van with dough, drove into San Francisco and rushed to Rize Up Bakery, where owner Azikiwee “Z” Anderson had volunteered his kitchen to Kosoy. The loaves successfully rescued, Kosoy crawled into bed by 4 a.m., hoping to wake up to good news.
But Monday morning, with power still out at Rosalind as of 9 a.m., the bakery couldn’t open. Kosoy called off his delivery drivers and employees. The rescued bread may go to waste.
“It’s just a triage situation,” Kosoy said.
Just before 7 p.m. Sunday, the colorful dining room full of customers at Shuggie’s in San Francisco was plunged into darkness. Power was out on the entire block of 23rd Street between Barlett and Mission streets, coowner Kayla Abe said.
“The music was cut, the ovens went down — just the floodlights went on,” Abe said.
Shuggie’s closed early for the night, at a loss of about $2,000 to $3,000 in sales, plus labor costs. Power was restored about an hour later, Abe said, saving the restaurant’s refrigerated ingredients, but they had already sent employees home and emailed cancellations to diners with reservations for the rest of the night.
Power also went out in the middle of dinner at Jo’s Modern Thai in Oakland on Sunday at 7 p.m. Diners used their phones to light tables until the power was restored about 10 minutes later. But after another outage, the restaurant closed early, around 8 p.m., said chef Intu-On Kornnawong. It had been a slow night due to the storm, she said — only 30 covers, a low the restaurant hasn’t seen before on a Sunday night.
After losing power at his deli and market in Potrero Hill, Alimentari Aurora owner Dario Barbone ordered dry ice on DoorDash as an emergency refrigeration stopgap, according to an Instagram post.
In Napa Valley, Oakville Grocery temporarily closed Monday. Power had been out since 1 p.m. Sunday, the business wrote on Instagram.
Even businesses that weren’t open during the onset of the power outages are affected.
Andytown Coffee Roasters’ cafe and roastery on Taraval Street in San Francisco lost power for 12 hours Sunday, shutting off its refrigeration, and then had to close Monday so the business could clean out milk, cream, eggs, ham and bacon from its fridges. They had been at unsafe temperatures for too long, owner Lauren Crabbe said.
Andytown lost an estimated $1,000 from the thrown-out food, plus a day of lost sales. The coffee shop’s espresso machine sputtered and leaked water when staff turned it on; she said machines can often break after losing power for an extended period of time.
Kosoy was facing the same prospect Monday morning, with Rosalind going on 17 hours without power. The bakery’s regular flour and produce deliveries had already arrived, but anything requiring refrigeration may have to be thrown out. If the outage continues, Rosalind might not be able to mix dough for tomorrow.
“If I have to waste product,” Kosoy said, “that’s going to be very disruptive to my operations.”