New Jersey to Reopen
Nonessential stores for curbside pickup and allow construction. New Jersey will allow nonessential businesses to reopen for curbside pickup and nonessential construction to resume, starting Monday morning, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to show signs of slowing in the state, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday. The executive order marks the second major move Murphy has made to ease the near-lockdown orders he instituted almost eight weeks ago to fight the virus. He previously lifted closures on state and county parks and golf courses. The changes will take effect 6 a.m. Monday.
The One Type of Restaurant Thriving
During the coronavirus. While the coronavirus lockdown has been a disaster for the vast majority of restaurants, this old school type of eatery has thrived: Drive-in restaurants. A drive-in restaurant is one where one can literally drive-in with their car for service. Patrons park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk out to take orders and return with food, encouraging diners to remain parked while they eat. As diners look to social distance while eating out, drive-in restaurants have seen a surge in business as patrons can order and eat food from the relative safety of their own car.
Manhattan Faces a Reckoning
If working from home becomes the norm. Even after the crisis eases, companies may let workers stay home. That would affect an entire ecosystem, from transit to restaurants to shops. Not to mention the tax base. Before the coronavirus crisis, three of New York City’s largest commercial tenants — Barclays, JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley — had tens of thousands of workers in towers across Manhattan. Now, as the city wrestles with when and how to reopen, executives at all three firms have decided that it is highly unlikely that all their workers will ever return to those buildings. The research firm Nielsen has arrived at a similar conclusion. Even after the crisis has passed, its 3,000 workers in the city will no longer need to be in the office full-time and can instead work from home most of the week.
This Virginia Inn is Facing Empty Tables
With mid-century mannequins. The coronavirus pandemic has forced restaurants to rethink their seating arrangements, as social distancing requires some tables be left empty. The Inn at Little Washington is presenting a rather innovative solution to fill their half-empty restaurant: mannequin-laden tables. In the Washington, Virginia restaurant, each empty table will provide the setting for a different scene, from a proposal to a business meeting. All of the mannequins (yes, life-sized dolls) will also be dressed in 1940s attire, complete with era-appropriate hair and makeup. The waiters will even be instructed to pour wine for the inanimate guests. Chef and proprietor Patrick O’Connell, a James Beard award-winner, is conceptualizing these intricate scenes to comply with capacity regulations, implemented in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
Restaurant in Amsterdam Built Small Greenhouses for Diners
To enjoy a meal in while social distancing. How and where we eat may look vastly different than it did a few months ago. As countries begin to ease from lockdown restrictions and restaurants start to reopen doors, the world is wondering what will change. In Amsterdam, Mediamatic Eten has a different idea. The vegan restaurant plans to seat its diners in small greenhouses. The restaurant named the enclosures “serres séparées,” or separated greenhouses, and the glass structures offer a view of the water. Mediamatic Eten, which has plans to open on May 21, has five greenhouses. The cubicles are designed for two diners — ideally, two people who live together.
Did You Know?
Uber is trying to buy Grubhub to create a food delivery Goliath. The world of restaurant delivery options could soon get even smaller. Uber is making a play to acquire Grubhub, according to a report by Bloomberg, and an official agreement between the rideshare service and the food delivery platform could be possible “as soon as this month.” The merger would create the country’s largest food-delivery platform in terms of market share, a potentially worrisome prospect for restaurants that already have limited options when it comes to third-party delivery services. Data from October 2019 showed that the San Francisco-based Doordash had conquered 35 percent of the delivery market, with Grubhub coming in second, at 30 percent. Uber Eats was in third, with 20 percent of the overall market share.
Employee Tip
Restaurant workers: how do you feel about businesses reopening? The COVID-19 pandemic continues to change the way restaurants operate, perhaps in ways that will stick around for years to come. The impact on workers has been paramount. Since the last week of March, more than 30 million people have filed for unemployment benefits, and the unemployment rate has risen to 4.4 percent. Restaurants have laid off or furloughed most, if not all, of their staff. Now that restaurant operators are teetering with ways to re-open their businesses, many of the more-than-11 million workers who power the industry are at a crossroads. How soon will they return to work? Will it be secure? Will it be safe?
Bielat Santore & Company – Restaurant Industry Daily Alerts
New restaurant industry survey. Bielat Santore & Company is conducting an online survey of restaurant owners and operators throughout the NY-NJ-PA metropolitan area, inquiring about the challenges the industry is facing during COVID-19 pandemic.
The firm will donate $1 dollar for every valid survey response it receives to the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC). The Independent Restaurant Coalition was formed to save the local restaurants affected by COVID-19. “Our firm is committed to working with the active community of restauranteurs and hospitality operators, many of whom are our clients, to help with the rescue and reopening of their industry,” states Richard Santore, Partner in Bielat Santore & Company.
You can find the survey on the company’s website at www.123bsc.com/news/ and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/123BSC/ . In addition to the company’s monetary donation, if enough survey responses are received, Bielat Santore & Company will publish a comprehensive report compiling the results of the survey for distribution.
A voice for our industry. If you are finding these daily bulletins informative and beneficial during this pandemic, we kindly ask that you write a brief Google review providing a vote of your appreciation. Simply Google “Bielat Santore & Company” and when the company name appears click the button on the right to write your review or; if you don’t use Gmail, go to Google Maps, type “Bielat Santore & Company” – Allenhurst, NJ into Google Maps; scroll down and you will see an option to leave a review.
Thank you and remember all of the “Restaurant Industry Alerts” and “Thursday Restaurant Rap” interviews can be found at www.123bsc.com/news/. We intend to continue to keep you informed as we all look for an end to this crisis.
