Restaurant scene

Picton eatery adapts during pandemic

In the best of times, many restaurant and café owners will say it’s not an easy business to be in. Profit margins are typically slim, it’s hard work involving long unsavoury hours, where for many it is a true labour of love. The seasonality of Prince Edward County only adds to the woes, because while we know it’s crazy busy in the summer months, the winter, and to a lesser extent, the shoulder seasons, are traditionally very quiet. It’s a livelihood where restaurants provide a service to neighbours, to friends, to community, to visitors. They build a brand, produce good food, often sourcing local produce and suppliers, where the payoff is a loyal community who spread the word ensuring patrons return again and again. There is the tourist element of course, and it’s a vital one, but at times like these, it’s all about community helping community.

Whether it’s morning coffee, a hearty lunch or white tablecloth, restaurants make a community, and the community needs its many eateries. Legislated to shut their doors in these uncertain times due to the novel coronavirus, along with many other businesses and stores, restaurants lost their ability to do what they do best, what they know. Restaurateurs are invested in their community, yet almost overnight, they found themselves unable to feed the community they came here to serve, and to continue to do the thing that gets them up in the morning. Many had to immediately layoff staff, and with an imminent summer tourist season upon them, most had already begun securing additional staff to ramp up for a much-anticipated, and much needed, busy summer season, one they so rely upon in order to survive.

The new Vic Grocery Box. A weekly food box that can be picked up at the restaurant or delivered to your door.

For those who already offered a take-out service, something businesses have been allowed to continue doing, along with a delivery option, many continue to offer that service, and in some cases, have been able to expand and adapt takeout options. For those restaurants who didn’t already offer take-out, some realized it might be the only way to not only protect their investment, but to offer a necessary service, all while doing so within the provincial restrictions surrounding a global pandemic. In the first of a series, The Times will highlight some of the County’s cafés and restaurants, where owners share some of their personal struggles, motivation and creativity to keep going during a serious global health crisis.

Like so many local small businesses, government legislation has meant The Vic Café’s doors have been temporarily closed because of COVID- 19. They have had to layoff 12 staff, as well as delaying the hiring of around 30 summer staff. “None of those contracts have been signed because no one has any idea when we will be back running the show,” says Sonya Szabo, co-owner of The Vic Café. “The government is failing the restaurant industry. We’ve been forced to close,” states The Vic Café’s Facebook page. “We are going to get through this crisis, but we need help.”

Szabo acknowledges the government’s offer of bank loans and wage subsidies to help small businesses through the transition, but says it’s not going to help. “Paying 75 percent is not going to help any business who doesn’t actually have any employees left,” says Szabo, who adds the relief the government has offered so far doesn’t match their needs. “If you are a restaurant that is operating doing take-out and delivery then, yes, that would help them, but we haven’t been doing take-out and delivery, and there are a lot of restaurants that aren’t, so we don’t have payroll, so it’s totally useless for us.” As for the government’s offer of interestfree bank loans of up to $40,000, of which $10,000 may be forgiven, Szabo says, “This solution causes restaurants to go into debt.”

“Everyone else in our supply chain is getting paid,” explains Szabo. “Our food suppliers got paid for the food we couldn’t sell, our landlord still expects the rent cheque at the end of the month, our utility bills are due for a building that is locked down, and our insurance payments are still payable for a business that isn’t operating,” she says. “Restaurants specifically are asking the government to think about moving that wage subsidy to start when we start hiring people back, rather than doing it now,” says Szabo. “It would really help us start back up again because then we will incur a lot of start-up costs.” Because the Szabos had been out of country when this crisis began and had to self-isolate for two weeks, it wasn’t practical for them to offer a take-out and delivery option because they weren’t around to ensure their staff were working in a safe environment. “Now our isolation period is over, we are planning on running a few take-out and delivery options, just my husband and I,” explains Szabo.

Having moved just a year ago from a location beside The Regent Theatre to their present abode in the former Subway location on Picton’s Main Street, Szabo notes the challenges for businesses that have started up in the last year or so. “We are still paying off our construction costs and our start-up costs, so it’s especially difficult for us.” Having been in business since 2015, The Vic Café celebrated its grand opening anniversary on April 1. “We celebrated at home,” says Szabo.

While they are looking forward to their grand re-opening, in order to adapt to changing times, The Vic Café is in the meantime starting a grocery box delivery program, The Vic Grocery Box. “I think we are the first to do this, at least in Picton,” she says. “We are using our really great suppliers of great quality Canadian produce and also the advantage of our bulk rates and offering a grocery box which we’ll have either for pick-up at the restaurant or we will deliver contact-free.” She explains because they will be using existing suppliers, those suppliers are already vetted. “We know the quality is really great, we know the ingredients, and it’s the same crew we would use when we are operating.”

Posted on The Vic’s Facebook page is a link to a petition Szabo would like to direct people to at savehospitality.ca. “That’s a way people can help because the restaurant industry specifically has way different needs to other businesses or bigger corporations,” Szabo says. “We would love to see as many people sign that if possible, or learn more about why restaurants are in a particular dire need for different help.” For take-out and delivery options, and to find out more about the The Vic Cafe’s new grocery box program, visit theviccafe.com or facebook.com/cafevic.