ottawa'S FOODIE ADVENTUReS

March 17, 2020: The Day the Ottawa Restaurant Industry Died

June 2020 (Blog Post)

But since March 17th, the day the province declared a state of emergency, this seems less possible. New social distancing measures being put in place will change communal and intimate restaurant atmospheres. To further exacerbate this sad situation, avoluntary survey released in late April by Restaurants Canada , estimates that close to 50% of independent eateries will be gone for good by the end of summer. This news is very disturbing. Many of us may never be able to step into our favorite eateries ever again! Or explore untried ones on our ‘To Try’ lists!

For most of us Foodies, isolating ourselves in our homes and practicing social distancing when leaving the house appears to have become the new norm in our daily life. Usually this is the time of the year when we can enjoy delicious food outside on restaurant patios while sipping our favorite alcoholic (or non-alcoholic) beverage, sitting side-by-side with friends and family, close to other patrons.

In Ottawa, around 80% of businesses in the ByWard Market, usually the epicentre of our City Hot Spots for food, have been forced to close down temporarily due to the pandemic, this  according to a survey by the Downtown Rideau Business Improvement Area. In an interview with CBC, Mathieu Fleury, Councillor for Rideau-Vanier, added that some “businesses have told us that it will be like climbing Mount Everest” once the province allows restaurants to re-open.

Across Canada’s National Capital, many of the restaurants look like scenes out of a Hollywood apocalypse movie (exempting fast food restaurants). Many Ottawa restaurants we Foodies love to visit are now covered up in plywood with some ‘adorned’ with graffiti, messages of ‘Re-opening soon’ hopes or reminders that their take home meals are still an option.

Here at Ottawa’s Foodies Adventures, I had a discussion with another Foodie over the weekend about the current situation. We both had the same question … How will COVID-19 change our restaurant industry?

For this month’s feature, I thought this would be of interest for you fellow Foodies out there. This feature will focus on three concerns for the future of the restaurant industry. First, I’ll discuss the dilemma that the restaurant industry will be facing in the future between independent and big chain restaurants. Then, I’ll briefly explore how people are cooking more at home in the face of less options during the pandemic. Lastly, I’ll examine the greatest concern for the restaurant industry: how they can viably survive outside the traditional restaurant model.

Bye Bye to Many Creative Indies

The eventual re-opening of restaurants means that they’ll be accountable for making their premises clean and for enforcing social distancing to make patrons feel safe. Moreover, they’ll incur additional costs to ensure client and staff safety (in and out of the kitchen) and they’ll most likely have to reduce their seating to carry out safe distancing. Logically, this means that restaurants will have to charge more for food. This burden will heavily impact independent family owned restaurants.Will this lead to the loss of independent and innovative restaurants that we Foodies enjoy visiting?

On the other hand, larger corporate brand or ‘chain’ restaurants can better weather this storm, taking a relatively small hit to their bottom line and able to recover from the pandemic.

Will this lead to less diversity in food offerings that we Foodies crave?

Stay at Home = Cook at Home

If you’ve been following the news or grocery shopping, you’ve seen flour shortages in many stores. Imagine that! In a country known worldwide for its wheat.  Many of you have been talking with family and friends about doing more cooking at home since people can’t visit restaurants and are less willing to order take out. With COVID-19, more people are being forced to spend more time in the kitchen, doing their own cooking.  This could become habit forming, as a result of learning or perfecting a skill that we Foodies know is valuable and rewarding in life.

So, with many Canadians having less discretionary income due to the pandemic and the lagging effects it will have on our economy for the foreseeable future, will people be less willing to go out to restaurants?

Once the provincial government gives the go ahead to fully re-open, Ottawa's restaurant industry won’t be able to rely on ‘full houses’ anymore. During the current pandemic some restaurants have added take out options and many have turned to third-party delivery apps with several having fallen victim to these services’ predatory tactics, often charging up to 25-30% of the final bill (CBC News-Ottawa).            

As the previous option isn’t a viable long-term solution, new ideas for take or carry out are being bandied about. With more people cooking at home, restaurants are considering offering weekly grocery boxes designed by them. Along these same lines but a bit cheaper for the customer, is the introduction of prepared meal kits.          

Another option is having more restaurants operate as marketplaces. With the reduction in eating space, restaurants could fill this space with cooking products ready to sell to customers, pre-made fresh or frozen high-end prepared meals, or even fresh produce. One of the best examples of this model in Canada’s National Capital is the Pelican Seafood Market and Grill (shown above). For years, they’ve been operating both as restaurant and seafood market, all the while offering take out options, pre-made meals and sides such as sauces.  

The Future Restaurant Model

To all my Ottawa’s Foodies Adventures readers, especially those in Canada’s National Capital, I pose a challenge to you over the next two weeks. In support of our local independent restaurants struggling in these though times, I would love for all of you to order from one of them (still) in operation right now. I’ll be following up on that front and providing you with my first ever food review on my next blog post.