The reinvention of a Redlands restaurant: the pivot – Redlands News

It became evident in February that at least temporary closures would be impending for the thousands of restaurants stretching across California. On the evening of March 12, reality hit all of us.

The next morning Caprice on State Street in Redlands was reduced to a take-out only restaurant for the months that followed, which was a difficult and trying adjustment for a restaurant that has followed a fine dining in-person model for the past 32 years. That week, hoping to give the town something to smile about, Caprice outfitted its unused patio with a staged graduation party for 32 teddy bears, which made the CBS evening news.

This was only the beginning of adapting to the situation as shortly afterward, owners realized that these closures were going to be a long-term impedance to business.

At the end of March, I started to see pop-up sidewalk kiosks in different cities allowing restaurants to have distanced outdoor dining. I began talking with Mayor Pro Tem Denise Davis, who agreed wholeheartedly with the concept of making this happen in downtown Redlands. We worked diligently to propose and pursue this agenda.

After several meetings with Mayor Paul Foster and other city officials, we were able to plan for State Street closures to commence in mid-July opening up large areas of seating for diners at six restaurants. The project was named the State Street Promenade.

Since then, outdoor dining has been a hit, bringing hundreds of patrons to downtown Redlands every night seated under the shadows of the trees in a comfortable open-air environment with distanced tables. After months without any dine-in options, this has been a huge relief for the town and our small business restaurant owners who have limited patio space, if any.

Caprice, with a normal capacity of 96 people has been reduced to a capacity of 18 people adhering to social guidelines. This ratio is not uncommon with all Redlands restaurants, which require a significant pivot in business practices to remain solvent.

Without the expansion onto State Street it is unlikely our downtown restaurants would have survived over this many months. Now facing the possibility of further restrictions and closures, and with the discussion of eliminating even outdoor dining looming, restaurants are desperately hoping that distanced outdoor dining will still remain an option here in town.

Further taking advantage of the downtime in this pandemic, restaurants all over Redlands have been remodeling and reimagining business operations.

In August, Caprice took the opportunity to build a truly unique private room in the State Street building. The space includes an ornate dining room that can seat parties from six to eighteen people, a separate cocktail lounge and a private restroom, all of which are meticulously decorated.

The vibe invokes 1920 speak easy style meets vintage 1967 San Francisco with the surrealism of Salvador Dali. An in-wall fireplace, 4k projector and movie screen, velvet chairs and a complete set of antique furniture furnished by the downtown Redlands Galleria all lend to this imaginative space.

Presently, there are dozens of lawsuits pending against the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors and the governor on behalf of restaurant owners and guilds. The argument for closing all in-person dining seems to be that too many restaurants are not adhering to distancing guidelines and, not being able to monitor so many businesses, the decision would be to close all restaurants.

Adversely, restaurant owners that have done everything in their power to operate safely would be punished for the actions of others acting irresponsibly. We are all hoping that these decisions with such serious implications will be reconsidered so that we can continue our outdoor programs while weather permits.

As restaurants all over the country are faced month after month with mounting challenges and debt, thousands of businesses are awaiting a time when its safe to reopen the operations we once knew. In these times, the only way small businesses can stay afloat are to adapt to what has become the new normal. Creative projects like these have been life-savers during a long-running pandemic that has affected so many small shops and restaurants all over the country. The restaurateurs of Redlands are infinitely grateful to the city for allowing us the opportunity to seat people once again.

State Street Outdoor Dining will take place weekly Thursday through Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Reservations are recommended. Participating restaurants: Caprice, Roc N Fondue, The Tartan, The State, Don Orange Tacos, and Darbys Cantina. The Red Room at Caprice is available for private tours by appointment. (909) 793-8787.

Alfresco dining in downtown Redlands

State Street Outdoor Dining to take place weekly from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Reservations are recommended.

Participating restaurants: Caprice, Roc N Fondue, The Tartan, The State, Don Orange Tacos, and Darbys Cantina.

The Red Room at Caprice is available for private tours by appointment. (909) 793-8787.

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The reinvention of a Redlands restaurant: the pivot - Redlands News