Thanks to the COVID-19 outbreak, Mother’s Day has become very, very different for families that typically would do Sunday brunch to celebrate all things Mom.
It’s also incredibly different for the restaurants themselves.
Dan Sidner – the co-owner of Black Shoe Hospitality and its restaurants Blue’s Egg, Maxie’s and Story Hill BKC – tells WTMJ’s Melissa Barclay how the way they are handling brunch-to-go and so many other aspects of his business reflects what restaurants will be going through to adapt to the physical and psychological needs of their customers.
“Our expectation is that to go will be a big part of what we are doing for months, potentially years to come. We are just adapting and changing menus,” said Sidner.
“When we are fully re-opened, we are opening with smaller menus. We’re going to have to operate with smaller teams to accomodate social distancing guidelines.”
Those guidelines also need to be met in the eyes of the customers who will dine-in when that begins as well, and Sidner knows it.
“It begins with guests needing to have a sense they are going to have a safe environment. We are going to be very obvious,” he said.
“Every (team member) will be wearing masks. Everybody (on staff) will be wearing gloves. We are taking extra steps with every element of the dining experience…once they’ve got that sense, then we have the opportunity to provide hospitality and wonderful food. It’s my hope that guests will feel that it’s worth it.”