By Elodie Lortal
COVID 19 has certainly transformed the world and our communities. Businesses in the ByWard Market, which is usually swarming with tourists, must now rely on local foot traffic. Restaurants could have never predicted that quarantining, physical distancing and social bubbles would become the new normal.
Through al of this turtmoil, ByWard restaurants have had to reinvent themselves and think outside the box to surf through the pandemic second wave. Profit margins in the restaurant industry have always been small: three to five per ent is the average in the sector. That does not leave much money to pay for changes restaurants have needed to adopt to survive the pandemic. Restaurants in the Market have shown themselves to be creative in adapting, as shown in the examples below
DasLokal, 190 Dalhousie Street
Executive Chef Henriet Clunie is going all in when it comes to outdoor dining. “We never reopened our indoor dining; we’ve focussed on outdoor dining and rented out a big tent.”
While Ottawa City Council relaxed regulations for restaurant patios until December 31st cooler weather has already made patio dining more challenging. “We have to embrace winter,” said Chef Clunie; “Nordic countries have been embracing winter and eating out [and] we can do the same here in Canada.”
For the holiday season Das Lokal will offer meal kits, boxed meals and cocktail kits. With mosts companies going virtual, Chef Clunie wants to provide meal kits that people can enjoy together virtually. The traditional Christmas parties won’t happen this year but virtual parties can happen, and Clunie want to be ready for them.
Courtyard Restaurant, 21 George Street
Courtyard Restaurant has kept its patio open and offers a takeout menu. The takeout menu is available for delivery through the Love Local website with a flat fee $5 per delivery, Starting mid-October takeout will also be available through UberEats and Door Dash. If you prefer pick up you can do so Wednesday through Sunday from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Executive Chef Simon Brière-Audet and his team have noticed that most the restaurants offered a three-course, fixed-price menu for takeout. Chef Simon wanted to give more flexibility to his guests so started an online grocery . The idea was to offer frozen items and fresh-picked items. “Our guests can tailor their order and select what they want.” said Chef Simon. For the holiday season the Courtyard will add more seasonal holiday items such as pâté de foie gras, turkeys and roasts. They don’t plan on hosting any traditional Christmas parties; instead they want to provide Christmas food to your home.
Le Moulin de Provence, 55 Byward Market
Le Moulin de Provence has realeased its products for the holiday season . This year, they are offering their traditionnal yule log, with nine different flavours available. Recognizing that large gatherings might be out of the question for some, they’ve also created bûchettes for a single person. They have produced six special holiday dishes. You will be able to impress family and guests from the comfort of your home.
If you’re looking for gift ideas, why don’t you buy a Moulin de Provence gift e-card? You can load it from $20 to $100. It can also be ordered online.
Challenges to surviving the pandemic?
Restaurateurs have tried their best to keep their staff working. For example, front staff have been crossed-trained in the kitchen. During the summer, patios have helped restaurant to keep busy and to keep everyone employed, but with the colder weather and the second wave upon us, many places will be forced to cut staff levels.
Keeping staff safe from COVID is is the number-one priority according to chef Harriet Clunie. Customers will only spend an hour or two at the restaurant while staff members will spend between eight to ten hours.
Obtaining the necessary supplies has also been a challenge. When Italy went on a hard lockdown back in April, their wine exports stopped almost completely. Then, this summer the fires started in California, which hurt availability from that state.
Many restaurants expected the first lockdown to be over by April 1st or mid-April at the latest. At Moulin de Provence they have experienced delayed orders, and sometimes, specific products were completely out of stock. They had to quickly re-adjust their offerings to keep satisfying their customers.
When it became clear that re-opening regular indoor service was perhaps months away, there was a rush to adopt a take-out option. The explosion in the demand for takeout food sent restaurants scrambling to find suitable containers. Chef Harriet Clunie said that she wanted to be environmentaly friendly and bought biodegradable and compostable supplies made of bamboo. But for others, it was get what you can.
The availability of outdoor patios through the summer gave many restaurants the revenue that they needed to survive. However, with the cooler weather and the second wave limiting indoor dining, more places wil need to adopt a takeout-and-delivery option.
Chef Clunie, one of the leaders of the Love Local network, said that they are testing an online application that should be released soon. Lovel Local is a service delivery provided by “Responsible Choice” drivers.
All restaurants agree that without the rent and wage subsidies they would not have been able to survive. Having more flexibility on the rent has helped local businesses to spread out their bills and to compensate for the loss of revenue due to COVID-19. Restaurant have had to wait up to three months before receiving wage subsidy payments, for example, but at least it exists. Restaurateurs hope that the new version of the rent subsidy will include some utilities as well.
Their wish for 2021? A vaccine of course. But restaurateurs are conscious that life has changed and they want to look at COVID as an opportunity to create a better and more sustainable industry. They also hope that people become more sensitized to consuming locally and supporting their community.