By Janhabi Nandy
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health measures have presented restaurants with incredible challenges. As 2022 settles in, ByWard Market restauranteurs reflect on their resilience and their optimism about the months ahead.
Stephen Beckta, owner of Play Food & Wine, 1 York Street, as well as Beckta, 150 Elgin Street and Gezillig, 337 Richmond Road, says that despite the challenges of the pandemic he and his team have done well. Beckta remained focused on “caring for staff first and foremost, and caring for guests at home when we can’t have them in the restaurant.” Throughout the indoor-dining restriction periods Beckta and his team turned to providing curated wine and cheese platters, picnics in the park, three- course meal kits and patio tables when permitted. “It was a lot of pivots, a lot of creativity, a lot of hard work to get done what needs to get done to keep business and staff moving” reflects Beckta.
For David Mangano, owner of The Grand Pizzeria and Bar, 74 George Street, business was going well in the fall and early winter but he noticed a change in patronage weeks before indoor dining in Ontario was closed on January 5, 2022. Reading information about the Omicron variant in the news dampened interest in indoor dining and holiday reservations were cancelled by many organizations. While Mangano observes wryly that “January is the best time for a lockdown,” he reflects that for some people, it moves socializing into private homes rather than the controlled environment of indoor dining. In recent weeks Mangano has the impression that the public is going out, even traveling, and expects to see them return to enjoy indoor dining.
Looking forward to reopening indoor dining–“We are very excited to serve food on plates again,”– Beckta observes that it takes time even after restrictions are lifted for diners to return. “It takes a little bit of time, people put a toe in the water and try and if the dining experience goes well, feels safe, then people start dining indoors again.”
Justin LaFerriere, Executive Chef of Fairouz Cafe, 15 Clarence Street, expects diners will be excited to return to indoor dining, though he will continue to offer specially designed menu items to suit take-out customers. Valentine’s Day will be an opportunity to do something “completely different” at Fairouz with a special dine-in menu for the day; the restaurant is not ordinarily open on Mondays but February 14th is an exception. LaFerriere recommends diners consider making reservations as restrictions ease, since restaurants need to be strategic in order to serve the maximum number of diners within capacity limits in as many seatings as possible each evening before an early last call.
Mangano was disappointed to see Winterlude cancelled again, especially after he had already invested in a custom-made ice bar to welcome festival goers. “Losing Winterlude is a huge loss to the downtown businesses” he says. But The Grand will make good use of their ice bar and welcome patrons to enjoy it outside with music on the weekends, until it melts.
Different dining offerings may have had diverse experiences of the pandemic, as restaurants that are a destination in the Market have a distinct customer base from those that cater primarily to a tourist crowd. However, the timing of restrictions, and now the easing of those restrictions during the slower winter season, generally means an easier time for staffing than the sudden stops and starts of past pandemic summer seasons. The restaurants have good teams in place to serve customers now, and time to recruit and train new staff in the spring for the summer. On the other hand, LaFerriere expects supply-chain disruptions to present challenges as they have done throughout the pandemic, resulting in “not knowing what you have to work with until you start each day.” Beckta has focused on building strong relationships with suppliers, ordering in advance and paying promptly to help suppliers feel secure in an insecure time.
All three restauranteurs are optimistic that the ByWard Market will regain its vibrancy in the months ahead. Reflecting on the shifts in the restaurant industry during the pandemic, as well as his early years in the business as a server in the ByWard Market, Beckta is looking forward to bringing up a new generation of hospitality professionals greeting enthusiastic patrons in the months ahead.