After a year full of challenges, Chatham-Kent restaurants are hoping to adapt to whatever the new year brings.
After businesses across the province were first forced to close their doors with little notice in March due to the pandemic, many business owners were left scrambling to find creative ways to still offer service.
The restaurant industry was one of the hardest hit in the wake of COVID-19. According to a survey by Restaurants Canada that was published a few weeks after the pandemic began, an estimated 800,000 foodservice employees were either laid off or not working by the end of March.
Kathy Dinga, the owner of Eli's Breakfast & Lunch in Chatham, took over the restaurant just two years before the pandemic. Prior to that, Dinga worked for the previous overs for 21 years.
Dinga said had she known what laid ahead for the industry, she may have had second thoughts about taking over the establishment.
"Even as comfortable as I was in this business, you just can't prepare yourself for something like this," said Dinga. "I mean, the stress of wondering what each day is going to bring whether you're going to get the government help that's been announced. Just dealing with the pressures of your staff, and the equipment you're going to need. It was a very stressful year, very challenging. I have, I think, come out the other side, a little smarter, a little less stressed."
Some financial relief started to trickle in throughout the spring and summer from different levels of government.
In June, the Ontario government also allowed for restaurants and bars to temporarily extend outdoor patio spaces to safely accommodate patrons and staff during the pandemic. Chatham-Kent council responded to this by approving a report which contained several recommendations and guidelines for temporary patios in the municipality.
Municipal staff worked with approximately 35 business owners in Chatham-Kent throughout the summer months to install some type of temporary outdoor patio in 2020 and 12 business owners to establish a temporary patio on municipal property.
For many restaurants, being able to add a patio was the difference between staying open and closing up shop, especially while indoor dining was still prohibited in Chatham-Kent.
Big Ricky's Little Bake Shoppe Owner Deborah Chandler said she used government aid to purchase PPE and equipment needed to put together an outdoor seating area.
The bakeshop wasn't able to open back up until August, but Chandler said it was a "blessing" to have a patio option for guests.
"People who hadn't seen each other for coffee for months enjoyed a visit together and signed in and out when they came in. It's just been a nice place for them to visit," she said. "Because indoors, we're too small to have any seating. So we normally have a couple of tables, but we can't right now, because it's just too tiny. We kind of used one parking spot and we blocked it with...two really durable flower boxes. Then we got a couple of tables and chairs from Costco and hunted high and low for a couple of umbrellas and got some flowers and prettied it up and everybody loved it."
The Chilled Cork in Chatham also had to pivot from being one of downtown Chatham's hotspots to not being allowed to open its doors with no patio option for guests.
The establishment adapted by setting up tables, chairs and tents on a street adjacent to the restaurant.
"For quite a while in the summer, that was really the only option that we had," said Food and Beverage Manager Josh Bueckert. "We had never had one before, that was a brand new experience for us. People really seemed to enjoy it. I know the staff here, we really enjoyed it. So we're just trying to make the best out of this situation. As we went into stage three, you know, we were still very limited as to what we could offer for indoor dining and most people didn't feel comfortable at that point. So the patio was absolutely key for us."
With Bueckert and Dinga both describing January and February and the slowest months for restaurants and with patio season in Ontario officially over, restaurant owners are now looking at how to make it through the next few months.
"We're not specifically known for takeout," said Dinga. "We've always been a dine-in type restaurant so people don't really think of us for takeout, but I'm trying to right now set up a Shopify web page with my Facebook and Instagram to hopefully boost takeout sales."
In addition to trying to attract customers and adapt to indoor dining restrictions, restaurants continue to be faced with the challenges and costs of making sure they are following strict health and safety measures.
"Still kind of day to day and really every other week, things from the health board change and there's a new thing to pay attention to," said Chandler. "So we're doing everything we can, taking temperatures, doing, you know, excessive cleaning, and we've got masks and shields. You name it, we got it."
During the December 14 meeting, Chatham-Kent council approved to continue the temporary patio extensions throughout 2021. Council also approved a bylaw amendment that would make it easier for establishments to construct a permanent patio.
Although it took a significant effort to set up the patio at Eli's Breakfast & Lunch and although it will be a few months before a patio can be utilized, Dinga said she's happy to see the idea get support again from the municipality.
"It was a lot of work but it really did save us and I am happy to hear that we will have that option again next year," she said. "Hopefully by then, you know, things will be 70 to 75 per cent back to normal."
Chandler also said she was happy to hear the extension pass in council and is already thinking of ways to make a larger patio in 2021. However, she also hopes that all tiers of government continue to offer their support to the restaurant industry and make it easier for establishments to thrive during the pandemic and make it easier for people to support local.
"I think promotion is everything. People need to know who's doing takeout. I think that if the municipality really promotes that, it would be super helpful, because a lot of us haven't got any spare change to put together for advertising," said Chandler.
To answer that call, the Municipality of Chatham-Kent has set up a dedicated page on its website to let residents know where they can grab a bite to eat under the current lockdown restrictions across Ontario. You can find the list of local take-out options by clicking here.
It may be impossible to predict what 2021 will look like, but Bueckert said, like most restaurants, The Chilled Cork is taking things day by day while still planning for what the next year could bring.
"We have a lot of a lot of ideas at hand being that nobody can really kind of tell what the future is going to be like over the next couple months...But we'll see what happens and kind of adjust as we go," he said. "We're looking at what can our patio look like next year? What can we do better? How can we improve? That's a nonstop conversation for us is how can we improve?"