Everyone is just kind of in shock: Restaurateurs look into the abyss as COVID-19 shutdowns take hold – Financial Post

Greg Annesley was sitting at a table in his seafood restaurant in Belleville, Ont., watching on TV as Ontario Premier Doug Ford ordered all restaurants and bars in the province to close. The staff, already preparing for lunch service on Tuesday, looked over at their boss. What did he want to do? Should they stop? Was it over?

Annesley, who has owned the Boathouse Restaurant for 20 years, told them to keep going, keep making soups, keep cutting fish. But as the morning continued, the news sank in. The Boathouse, like thousands of other restaurants and bars in Ontario, had to shut down, on St. Patricks Day no less. He told the staff to stop.

The Ontario announcement was one of a series of similar orders and suggestions made across the country as provincial governments and municipal public health authorities from Vancouver to Nova Scotia moved to slow the spread of COVID-19. The news set off harried discussions in restaurants from coast to coast as owners tried to figure out how long they could afford to pay their bills without revenue.

Annesley felt sick. He had 35 staff, all with families. Some of them had been with him for 15 years or more, with many living paycheque to paycheque. He also had thousands of dollars worth of perishable food in inventory. On top of that, rent for the 210-seat dining room, where Annesley said busy summers usually make up for slow winters, is due in two weeks.

If this turns in to two or three months or more, we may not make it through that, he said.

The local radio station called to tell him not to worry, theyd hold his ads until he was back up and running, no charge. But the laundry service wasnt as forgiving. They came by in morning to pick up the dirty aprons and rags. He told them he wouldnt have anything to be laundered going forward. He said they told him that theyd still have to charge him a monthly fee.

Annesleys staff were worried about whether they could get employment insurance. He called his wife and co-owner, Nancy, to talk about what they could do for them. But the couple was already struggling, since Lake Ontario flooded twice in three years causing major damage and forcing the restaurant to close in patio season. They were already in the hole, he said. All they could manage was to issue the final paycheques on Friday, then lay off the staff so they could seek EI.

I wish I could do more, Annesley said, his voice shaking.

Throughout the day Tuesday, restaurateurs with similar concerns called Restaurants Canada, a major industry organization with roughly 30,000 members.

I think everyone is just kind of in shock right now. Theyre not sure what to think, said James Rilett, Restaurants Canadas president for the central region. You can say you were getting ready for it for the last few days but when it hits its pretty devastating.

Some restaurant and bar owners wanted to know, Should I lay off my staff or should I terminate them? Others asked, What do I do when my rent comes due next month and I have no money to pay?

People are starting to look at 'How much of my personal savings do I use to keep open if I don't know how long this is going to last?'

James Rilett, president, central region, Restaurants Canada

People are starting to look at, How much of my personal savings do I use to keep open if I dont know how long this is going to last? Rilett said.

In the short term, Restaurants Canada advised members to lay off staff and provide them with records of employment as soon as possible so they can apply for EI. He also said the restaurant industry will need leniency from landlords and local utilities when bills come due.

In Ontario, restaurants were allowed to provide takeout and delivery, which would provide some reprieve but not nearly enough for the average Canadian full-service restaurant that gets 81 per cent of sales from dine-in customers, Rilett said.

To make up 81 per cent of your business, it would have to be a huge spike in takeout and delivery, he said. Most wont see it.

At Mildreds Temple Kitchen in Toronto, owner Donna Dooher made the call on Sunday to close the doors. She had been expecting slow brunch services over the weekend, after public health officials stressed the need for social distancing. Instead, the place was full.

I was taken aback, she said. Thats when it occurred to me that this is not going to work.

Dooher, with more than 35 years experience in the industry, made the call to close with her management team, who helped her inform the staff, the suppliers, the landlord, the security firm, the bank. On Monday, they opened a market with the thousands of dollars worth of perishable inventory and told the recently laid-off staff to take what they wanted bread, cream, eggs, potatoes, onions, desserts made for services that never happened.

In meetings last week, Dooher could sense the younger staff were afraid. So she told them about several recessions shed worked through, including 2008 when she opened Mildreds Temple with her husband. She told them about running a restaurant during the SARS outbreak, and especially after 9/11, about how surreal it felt, too enormous to fully grasp in the moment. And she told them how her mother-in-law used to reassure her in uncertain times, by talking about France falling in the Second World War and how they thought that the end had come.

I wanted to reassure them, Dooher said on Tuesday. We will get through it.

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Everyone is just kind of in shock: Restaurateurs look into the abyss as COVID-19 shutdowns take hold - Financial Post