Photo by Chad Holder
Travail Kitchen and Amusements
You can still get a sneak peek inside Travail 3.0 in our March issue out now.
I've had a lot of conversations this week. Almost none of them have been fun. This morning, the Travail crew announced that they would not be opening Travail 3.0 on Tuesday as planned. Fine dining is not in the current card deck. "We had to decide whether or not we were going to open a restaurant for two, maybe three weeks before things start to dwindle to a point where we actually have to close the doors," Mike Brown said as he broke the news on my radio show Weekly Dish. The new Travail, which has been more than a year in the making, is a two level multi-space restaurant built to create an interactive and immersive fine dining experience. They have not cut corners for this gorgeous space.
They've been watching the coronavirus pandemic news all week, much like the rest of us, and made the difficult decision after Gov. Walz held his press conference on Friday. "After that we started getting the phone calls and emails coming in. We lost about 25% of our ticketed business in 3 hours." They made the decision, that in order to save the restaurant for better days, they had to close now. Unfortunately that meant laying off staff members, some of whom have been with the crew for 10 years. They're encouraging them to seek unemployment benefits or trying to help them find spots in other restaurants.
Not that anyone is staffing up. I can't honestly tell you that the current outlook is shiny. I've been working in or writing about food and restaurants for nearly 30 years and I've never seen something like this before. Not even after 9/11, or the 2008 recession. When you look at Seattle having closed some 50 restaurants in two weeks, and New York with a mandate to lower capacity to 50%, you have to wonder: How will it come back? Culinary leaders like Daniel Boulud and Danny Meyer have closed their iconic restaurants. Rene Redzepi has closed Noma until April 14th.
When I talked to restaurants on March 4th, some heady 10 days ago, it was all about disinfecting surfaces, killing COVID. The hand-washing mandate is almost an understood given now, and we've moved on to tactics of social-distancing. As other regions limit gatherings to no more than 100 people (thusly, no St. Paddy's parades), schools move to online classes, and offices close so that employees will work at home, what does that look like for our favorite bars and restos where we go to blow off steam?
It's a really weird time. I'm worried for the industry and people I love, because I know workers who are living tips to tips, and owners trying desperately to mathematically figure out a way to keep things floating, so that they don't have to let anyone go in a time of crisis. I worry about ice-makers and micro-green growers getting the news that there will be no order this week, or next. And I worry about the charities that won't be able to raise funds because no chefs will be able to afford to donate time and food for galas. But I'm also worried about my 80 year old mom and her delicate lungs, and my doctor friend whose ER doc husband is on the front lines, and you, our reader. So do I say: Get out there and support your restaurants! Or do I say: Stay home and let's get this done with! My heart breaks to do either.
This is all new territory and no one knows what's really coming, except more anxiety. Gavin Kaysen of Spoon and Stable posted an honest and heart-felt note that speaks to this dilemma and the frayed mood of the local industry leaders.
Brown thinks we are in the early stages of this. His other spot, Pig Ate My Pizza, was packed last night. "But it's going to be a different story next week. Things are changing day by day, and we are trying to be smart, so that we can come back from it." He, like other restaurants in the metro, are looking at removing tables and reorganizing the dining room so that there are at least six feet in-between diners. Like many others they are emphasizing takeout, promoting their beer crowler sales, and working on possible creative delivery options.
Of course you can support the local industry without jeopardizing your health by buying gift cards for later use, getting curbside/carry-out so that all the money stays with the restaurant, and of course, tipping hugely.
The thing I hold closest in my heart, that I've said time and time again is: restaurants are made of people. And the restaurant industry is one of the most creative industries out there, so I have no doubt that it will bounce back from this. Please check our daily updated page for MSP restaurant news, so that you can see what they're doing to create a safe and welcoming place for you to continue to be a part of their world.
The only thing we know for sure is that we're all in this together.
