South Africa is two months into Lockdown, 62 days of restaurants not being allowed to open to serve sit-down customers. For the past 27 days many restaurants have reopened, operating within the Government regulation of offering a Food preparation and Delivery Service. On the eve of Restaurants being allowed to offer a Delivery as well as a Customer Collection Service from Monday 1 June, I looked at what the 2019 Eat Out Top 10 Restaurants are doing currently in terms of keeping their Restaurant brand names visible, and generating income to cover their costs and to employ some of their staff again.
I found that only three of the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurants are trading under their restaurant name in offering a Lockdown Food Delivery Service, and offering dishes that are similar to those that they offer at their award-winning restaurants. Continue reading →
As a restaurant writer it is interesting to me to observe how our country’s leading chefs are coping with the Corona Virus lockdown. Ten out of ten to the chefs giving unselfishly to their communities. Less impressive are the chefs trying to raise monies for their staff or selling vouchers to cover their cash flows. Surprisingly few are using the captive audience of Lockdown diners to communicate with them! 
Yesterday Chef Luke Dale Roberts messaged past guests of his The Test Kitchen, The Shortmarket Club, Commissary, Salsify at The Roundhouse, and The Pot Luck Club Restaurants, to stay in touch with them, and to request a donation for his staff from his past diners, in a SMS message probably sent via the Restaurant Group’s dining reservation system. It announces the closing down of The Shortmarket Club, and alludes to the same fate for The Commissary. 