Yesterday I was requested as a restaurant writer to prepare a submission for an urgent court proceeding to be brought against Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel, should he not meet the demand by today 6 July of restaurateurs that restaurants be allowed to serve alcohol with meals served, and to allow the distance rule for persons sitting at the same table to be reduced from 1,5 meters. The matter is being handled by Advocate Theo Nel, with support if the Karoo Art Hotel in Barrydale, and Chef Liam Tomlin’s six restaurants, including three Chefs Warehouses.
In preparing my document, I came to the conclusion that the restaurant industry in our country has been the one most severely discriminated against, given the number of hoops and hurdles it has had to deal with in terms of do’s and dont’s in the period just before Lockdown commenced, and the 102 days since it commenced! Continue reading →
The Restaurant industry is one of the hardest hit due to the Corina Virus in South Africa, having had to endure five weeks of complete closure, then restricted to Food Deliveries in May, allowed to offer Alcohol Sales and Food Collections during June, and now allowed to offer Sit-Down Service without on-site alcohol consumption since Monday 29 June. As an industry employing an estimated 800000 employees, the UIF and TERS problems it has had to endure in receiving (or not) staff payment has exacerbated the state of the restaurant industry, described by Chefs Warehouse Chef Liam Tomlin earlier this week as being reduced to nothing more than one of Coffee shops!
The Minister of Tourism Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane has just announced the reopening of the Restaurant industry on Monday 29 June 2020, following the regulations as per below. The Minister apologised that the industry had to wait so long to receive the regulations and opening date, after the reopening of Restaurants for Sit-Down was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 17 June 2020!
I first heard about ‘Dark Kitchens’ when I met Ian Halfon, CEO of Slick Restaurant Group, last week, his company having opened Cape Town’s newest Dark Kitchen on New Church Street in the City centre. Also known as ‘virtual kitchens’, ‘ghost kitchens’, or ‘cloud kitchens’, Dark Kitchens are independent operations creating food for a multitude of brands, such as the Slick Restaurant Group is doing, having opened its operation with five restaurant brands initially, and more planned, all food prepared from one Central kitchen, with obvious cost benefits. Food is ordered online, for delivery to the customer.