While restaurants in Manitoba are finally seeing some light during the COVID-19 pandemic, not all will be ready or able to set tables for diners as food restrictions ease this weekend.
The main problem: there may be no staff around to cook food or to serve and greet guests.
That’s the case with Peter Truong’s Kyu Bistro – Truong says that despite the week-long shutdown of the dining area of his Isabel Street restaurant, finding enough staff for a small number of potential customers by Saturday is a challenge.
The province allows restaurants and bars to reopen 25 percent indoors and 50 percent for outdoor dining from 12:01 p.m. on Saturday.
“We won’t open [for dine-in]. We’re just not prepared, “he told CBC on Thursday.
“There are a few [staff] who really need the income and want to come back, but there are a few who just want to relax and enjoy the summer while they can. “
In addition to the capacity constraints that limit the amount of potential dine-in stores, staff on duty also have additional responsibilities, Truong said.
This includes sanitizing the restaurant and screening customers to ensure that public health instructions are being followed.
He said he would reopen the bistro’s dining room on the first weekend in July.
Given the length of the pandemic, many retail or hospitality workers have moved on to other things, said Sachit Mehra, owner of the East India Company.
Mehra, who is also a board member of the Manitoba Restaurant and Food Services Association, says it might not be worthwhile for many companies to hire employees at 25 percent capacity.
“When you have a smaller facility [it] can only mean one table – and the possibility of benefiting from one table may no longer make sense to operate that, ”said Mehra.
Shaun Jeffrey, director of the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association, says restaurants in Manitoba averaged $ 89.00 in debt due to COVID-19. He would like more government recovery support. (Jeff Stapleton / CBC)
Although he plans to open his restaurant on York Avenue to diners, he knows that not every other restaurateur can do the same.
Shaun Jeffrey, the restaurant association director, said a recent membership survey on Wednesday found that only 32 percent of restaurant workers plan to return to an industry he said has already faced hiring challenges.
It’s another pandemic-related problem restaurants are facing, along with an average of $ 89,000 in debt per restaurant, he said.
Jeffrey said the Manitoba Restaurant and Food Services Association would like additional assistance in recovering from the government. It will take between five and eight years for a Manitoba restaurant to reach pre-COVID income levels, he said.
While restaurants in Manitoba are finally seeing some light during the COVID-19 pandemic, not all will be ready or able to set tables for diners as food restrictions ease this weekend. 2:22