With the recent Supreme Court decision to reverse the Gov. Tony Evers’ Safer at Home orders and local municipalities following suit, despite the fact that COVID-19 is still very much present in our community, restaurants have been thrown into a mess of ethical and moral decisions.
How much money is a life worth? That’s a question insurance companies are used to answering, but it’s now one that restaurant owners and chefs are grappling with themselves. Restaurants that open quickly and with fewer safety measures in place may be more likely to survive, but potentially at the cost of human life. How many positive COVID-19 infections are acceptable to keep the business running and its employees paid? How many deaths or confirmed cases linked back to a restaurant are acceptable?
Restaurants are well acquainted with safe food handling, but the pandemic adds a whole new level of considerations to keep customers safe. There has been at least one outbreak in China tied to a single restaurant through droplet transmission and the building's air conditioning. Are restaurateurs willing to risk opening for a potential cluster outbreak? Even with measures like customer and employee temperature testing or operating at half capacity, there are no guarantees. Could a restaurant survive the PR nightmare of being identified in the media as the source of an outbreak, even with safety recommendations in place? If not, is keeping the dining room closed actually a better long term business plan?
Daily Exposure
What about the health and safety of employees? Customers can be separated from one another relatively effectively, but employees will be the ones exposed to a steady stream of customers each day. They’re the ones bussing dirty dishes and being exposed regularly to cups, napkins and surfaces that potentially hold the virus. Even processes like dishwashing, which creates a large splash zone of water mixed with whatever was left on customers plates, turns into a lesson in biohazard containment. Is it even possible to completely protect some of the lowest paid workers in a restaurant? Is it worth risking their health to open at 50% capacity, which won't even see the restaurant break even?
There are a lot of question marks in this blog because there really isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. There are a thousand moving parts to any small business, and I am barely skimming the surface of what needs to change for restaurants to operate safely in a pandemic.
I think it’s safe to say, though, that independent restaurant owners and chefs in the Milwaukee area are largely erring on the side of caution and have made the decision that employee and customer health is their most important concern. It was encouraging that many restaurants posted on social media that they were keeping the dining room closed in the confusion that followed the Supreme Court ruling. Like people who wear masks in public places to protect others, many restaurant owners decided to put public health at the top of the priority list.
Not Normal Yet
As restaurants start reopening for dine-in, it's important to remember that the owners, chefs and employees are all making these complex and difficult ethical decisions every time they come to work, putting their lives on the line to feed you. Things are not back to “normal,” and won’t be for a long time—probably not until there's a vaccine. The changes that restaurants are making will require your help, including things like bussing your own disposable dishware, wearing a mask when you're not eating, and paying higher menu prices to make up for rising costs and limited seating. If you decide that eating out is right for you, be kind and considerate while we all navigate this new reality together.
Openings
There have been some happy new restaurant openings recently. Allie Boys Bagelry & Luncheonette has opened in Walker’s Point for curbside pickup. They sell hand-rolled bagels and East Coast deli-style schmears, bagel sandwiches with smoked whitefish and pastrami, soups and salad. The restaurant flooded with all the recent rain, so check social media to be sure they've reopened.
Twisted Plants also opened in Cudahy. The restaurant, formerly a food truck, is plant-based and open for curbside pickup. The menu includes a number of vegan burgers and sandwiches, plus lots of snacks like fried cauliflower and tater tots.
There’s also a ton of new restaurants in the works around the city, despite the pandemic. They include a second location of Camino in West Allis, a German restaurant and bar on Brady Street called WurstBar, an Italian restaurant in Bay View called Sorella, and Oggie's, a restaurant headed by Thomas Hauck that's replacing Pastiche in Hotel Metro.
