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PLate building
There's just a lot to think about right now.
While we watch cities and states across the country trying to figure out how to get back to some semblance of open life which must eventually happen in some form, that May 4 date of ours is creeping up. It's weighing on all of our minds.
Some restaurants are hoping the dining-in ban will be lifted, most assume it will come with lots of restrictions as it has in other areas. Others are getting ready for an extension to June 1. Or later. The state's power point last week seemed to suggest that bars and restaurants were on the later side of the opening plan. If the ban pushes out longer, it may signal that time has run out on many restaurants.
Matt Winter, one of the owners of Plate on Main, wonders if there isn't another option. His restaurant in Prior Lake is one of 15 locally owned spots that have come together to form a coalition. With the support of the mayor, the city council, and their state reps, they are drafting a plan for the Governor, asking him to allow them to open up for service as a test case scenario. "None of us are going to make it if we can't open soon. We only have one chain in town, the local Burger King. That could be the only restaurant left." All of the restaurants are currently working takeout programs, "but we can't keep going off of 30% of sales," he told me yesterday. "The PPP isn't meant for us, it's not going to help small restaurants."
Winter was a server and bartender for some 15 years before opening his first restaurant in November of 2018. He doesn't think that the state is likely to lift the ban this week, "my personal expectation is that we are looking at August 1 or later. I understand the slow roll, it's just hard to plan your future, figure out if you should take on more debt. We have people down here who have said that as of June 1st, they'll be out of money. That's it."
The debate about loosening the rules doesn't always have to boil down to zealots waving flags and shouting down healthcare workers. There are plenty of people who feel that you can care about the safety of your community and the livelihood of your local small businesses, it doesn't have to be strictly one or the other.
The group doesn't think that opening for service would mean a wild and free pass. "It's hard seeing people in Target and Home Depot, these huge stores where people are bumping into each other and not wearing masks. Before we were told to close, we were enacting cleaning protocols that none of those places were doing. We only want the chance to prove that we can be safe, that small restaurants can be open safely."
The coalition (which includes restaurants like Charlies on Prior, Teresa's Mexican, Ze's Diner, the VFW, and even the locally owned Subway franchise) has come up with a beginning set of protocols that they believe would allow them and their guests to be safe. Based on what they've seen from other states, it includes points like a logged sanitizing of host podiums and stations once per hour, with tables and chairs being fully sanitized after each use. Menus will be one time use/disposable, food will be delivered with as few contact touches as possible (think cart delivery where possible), six feet or more distance between tables, masks, and more. "We are open to this discussion, this is just the starting point. We're happy to take any advice to expand on best practices."
A lot of restaurants assume there will be a capacity limit, most are thinking it will be 50%. But this may be an instance where having a test case could be beneficial. Instead of just relying on a fire code number, Winter's group would rather let those numbers be determined by safe spacing. "Someone's 50% capacity may be too close seating and could only be at 30%. While another could fit 65%."
I asked him if he'd seen some of the footage in Georgia, and Dallas where some restaurants opened and were swarmed with people who couldn't seem to keep their social distance. "Well we don't want any lines, so we're talking about no walk-ins, only reservations where we can. And actively managing lines instead of just letting them form. We think we can do better. We have to be better. We have to figure out what this new normal is, being the test case is part of that." Being an experiment means a lot of scrutiny, and they're fine with that. Winter knows he's about to be hit with a lot of criticism. But in his mind, he has to try something, or cease to exist.
Prior Lake lies 20 miles to the southwest of Minneapolis, next to Savage, in Scott County (which has seen 35 confirmed cases and 1 death due to COVID-19). There's an estimated 26,000 residents in Prior Lake. Winter thinks that being in a smaller town makes this easier. He's sure that many of his loyal customers will come, they've said they would. But what happens when one of them gets sick? Or if their employees get sick? If things get worse? "We close it back down. No question, we want to do what's right."
Can we hope? Restaurants have to reopen at some point. With all the precautions in place, can this work on our current pandemic timeline? Will a smallish Minnesota town be allowed to open as a test case? Will Prior Lake lose all their locally owned restaurants within a month? Like I said, lots to think about.
The group sent the first letter last Friday, and their state Senator Eric Pratt and Representative Tony Albright are moving it through the local legislature. The hopeful goal is of working on the model for a new normal with the Governor, who is supposed to announce further clarification on the May 4 date by mid-week. Stay tuned.
