‘It’s a perfect storm’ — 5 Seattle chef/owners on how the end of COVID restrictions affects their restaurants and bars

The COVID-19 restrictions on restaurants and bars in Seattle are finally over. It feels, as Renee Erickson says later in this story, unreal: no more masks required (except especially if you are not vaccinated). Indoor seating was able to return to normal times literally overnight, from just 50% to full capacity. Social distancing is done, so the bar stools that have been turned upside down for more than a year are waiting for … right?

Of course there is cause to celebrate, but don’t expect the places to open fully again in an instant – and it will be different out there. Since staff is hard to come by, just getting reservations can be difficult. Economically, gastronomy remains a tightrope walk for many today and for the foreseeable future.

Here are five local chefs / owners on what this defining moment feels like, the work ahead, and the understanding they hope to gain from the tables and across the bar.

Brandon Pettit of Delancey and Essex in Ballard and Dinos Tomato Cake on Capitol Hillitol

“The reopening feels overwhelming and scary and tough – it’s like opening a new store in a new city you’ve never been to.

“Nobody knows what kind of things to ask. Nobody really knows how much a pint of beer should be – I’ve seen between $ 6 and $ 8.75. And I’ve seen Craigslist ads for chefs between $ 17 and $ 32 an hour. Just like some people are stuck in the past and others guess. [Customers] will be shocked at the prices. And they will keep rising in the next year because people are afraid of asking too much now. Labor costs have doubled in recent years, and the cost of staples like oil has skyrocketed due to COVID. Even before COVID, prices had not been raised enough to keep pace with cost increases. Now restaurants have no choice – they have to raise prices to survive.

“Recruiting is the hardest thing there has ever been. We had no responses from Craigslist and Poached and few on Facebook until we paid to improve our listing. Even then, I had two Mondays in a row on which we organized several interviews and no one came. After the first week of no-shows, I scheduled 12 interviews for the following week and still no one came.

“We’re having to move both Delancey and Dino to five days a week because we couldn’t find enough staff to keep them open for seven days, even at $ 25-30 an hour plus health insurance for the backyard. Essex will initially only be open on Fridays and Saturdays and we’ve had to switch to counter service – and we won’t have food in Essex because we couldn’t hire enough staff. Our Delancey card will also be a bit smaller as we will have a skeleton crew.

“It’s a perfect storm. People, including small business owners, are not going to live in Seattle. Young people who have stopped working due to stress or college admissions. Immigrants come in fewer numbers and follow construction jobs. Service workers moving into the marijuana industry. Amazon poached a number of service employees during COVID. Many switched to – and enjoyed the stability of – grocery stores. Lots and lots of people moved out of Seattle, went back to school, and so on. Most of the staff I’ve laid off have moved – most of them outside of the state.

“Another thing I’ve seen before is people mad at companies for lifting mask restrictions on staff. Like it’s unsafe or inconsiderate. For me, however, there is no choice as there is a gross power dynamic when staff are forced to wear masks but customers are told they don’t have to.

“Customers have to be friendly and understanding. It’s hard to understand how terrible the last year has been for the restaurant industry – even the places that seem to have a lot to do with takeout – and hard to understand how hard people work to survive. “

Canon’s Jamie Boudreau on Capitol Hill

“We don’t have an opening date yet. We’re still trying to get staff. We still have to hire four bartenders, two waiters, three cooks and two kitchen helpers. We will not interview anyone who is not vaccinated. I usually get 150 to 200 applications within 24 hours of being advertised. I ran four ads and over the course of a week I received 10 candidates.

“We usually have 60 cocktails on the menu. We could do 30 on the first menu to start. You just can’t come in here and be a bartender. It’s way too complicated. Once everyone is hired, it’s two weeks of training and a week of test dinner and then we’ll open.

“I would tell people, ‘Pretend we’re a brand new restaurant.’ We’re working on the kinks. Everyone is green and unsafe in their surroundings. At first it gets a little slower. We just have to be kinder to one another and be more patient. We live in a world of instant gratification. But with new staff, it can only take a while until we are where we were. ”The customer review has been automatically translated from German.

Rich Fox, owner of Weimann Maclise Restaurants (including Sabine, Macleod’s, Stoneburner, Stoup Kenmore, two Poquitos locations and three Rhein Haus branches in Washington)

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“I’m scared, nervous, and excited. We have been fighting this virus for so long and the idea that there are no more restrictions has not yet taken hold.

“The first goal is to open the bar lid. It’s where people get excited because they haven’t been allowed to be there since the pandemic started – to sit at the bar and interact with friends and the bartender, I know people have what it takes to be there to be.

“Unfortunately, not all of our restaurants are able to open their doors and operate at the same old days. We all deal with personnel issues.
I have just interviewed our general managers and asked, ‘Can you open your bar lids? Can you add table capacity? Can you extend the opening times? Can you extend the operating days? Are you ready for events – both business and private parties? ‘”

“We want to be open seven days a week. But each location will be different in terms of hours and days of operation. It depends on how many people our GMs and chefs can hire. “

“We will continue to do what we have done so far – unvaccinated employees must wear a mask until further notice and vaccinated employees must show proof of vaccination to become maskless, but of course we can still do so.” prefer it. Guests are not required to provide proof of vaccination if they are not wearing a mask, but we will continue to have signs indicating the governor’s guidelines. ”

Dun Liu, co-owner of Sizzling Pot King in the Chinatown-International District and Bellevue

“Due to the labor shortage, we are still facing challenges with the reopening. Our Chinatown location is open six days a week. But we need another line cook and two servers to be able to open seven days a week. Our Bellevue location is only take-away because we are understaffed for all positions – we need a cook, a chef, a part-time dishwasher and two waiters.

“We offer 15% higher wages than before the pandemic. For entry-level jobs, we pay $ 4 to $ 5 more per hour than the minimum wage rate. Still, it’s so hard to find help. We require our employees to be fully vaccinated. I don’t have to wear a mask for the staff, but that’s not a problem. When talking to my co-workers, everyone said they would wear masks. I’m happy about that. At the end of the day, it’s your health and safety. “

Renee Erickson of Sea Creatures (The Walrus and the Carpenter, Bateau, Great State Burger and more in Seattle)

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“It all feels surreal and strange. I’m pretty used to masks! It feels exciting too. I am happy not having to think so much about COVID restrictions anymore. It’s nice that I can travel again. I love that I can easily regroup with family and friends.

“Something [of our] Restaurants could be at full capacity in a few weeks. Other restaurants may not reach 100% this year. We still have four places – around a quarter of our locations – which are completely closed. Another quarter are open opening times or limited days. None of our locations is currently fully occupied. I hope we can open anywhere before summer is over. The attitude is really uphill – always, but especially now. We have a long way to go. The hiring pressure is also making the current staff thin. Balancing, taking care of everyone while trying to get hired and opened in time so we can get ours [Paycheck Protection Program] Help forgive is where we are right now.

“The vast majority of our employees are vaccinated. We will continue to follow King County’s public health guidelines for restaurants. This means that fully vaccinated employees no longer have to mask themselves. This also applies to guests. Unvaccinated employees have to mask themselves just like unvaccinated guests.

“The people who host you work hard. You are probably new to your job. If they’re not new to their job, they’ve likely lived as “essential workers” for the past year and a half – meaning they worked directly with mostly great, but sometimes really terrible, audiences during the pandemic. It’s probably very hot too. Everyone wants to eat out right now, but there isn’t a lot of seating and there aren’t a lot of hospitality workers. Be polite. Be polite. Accept the best. Have fun, but don’t be an idiot.

“My hope is that we will all have a little more appreciation and gratitude for all of this. We had this absence, which hopefully makes the heart beat faster. “

The interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Bethany Jean Clement is a food writer for the Seattle Times: bclement@seattletimes.com; facebook.com/bethany.jean.clement; on Instagram @bethanyjeanclement; on Twitter @BJeanClement.