Restaurants look to extend patio season

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/09/2020 (1884 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The owner of Saffron’s Restaurant says the wind scared him this weekend.

For months, doors to John Kolevris’s Mediterranean restaurant in Winnipeg were closed to diners, as businesses across the city were placed under mandated lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Then, patio season happened.

Kolevris said he saw the largest volume of summer customers at his Corydon Avenue eatery in years — almost enough, he said, to make up any losses made during the shutdown.

“It wasn’t easy opening up after restrictions happened because people wanted to stay home,” he said. “But I think customers just found it much safer to eat outside in the sun and that meant we could easily convince them to come to our restaurant, which is known for having a great patio.”

But on Sunday, as Environment Canada issued wind warnings for Winnipeg, the agency said an “abrupt transition to fall” would occur over the Labour Day long weekend.

And as a pandemic winter looms with “risk of widespread frost” across the Red River Valley and throughout Manitoba, restaurant and bar owners in the city are worried.

A recent poll by mobile app Andie.work found that Canadians feel safer dining at patios (21.7 per cent) than indoor restaurants (10.2 per cent).

Jonathan Alward, Prairies director for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said that’s why “patio season couldn’t have been more important this year.”

“Places that were closed for so long definitely relied on the outdoor spaces to make their ends meet once they were allowed to reopen,” he said. “They could allow more people to sit outside and be socially-distanced and so that way, they eased customers who wanted to go out during this time.”

Alward said he “commends” the city for allowing restaurants and bars to open “much faster and with quicker permits” than previous years. “But what I do worry about is what happens now.”

“I just wish it was as easy in previous years,” he said. “It’s already an expense to get set up for patios to begin with, especially on top of their personal protective equipment concerns. And having to worry about meeting permits and regulations is just another issue some places have had to deal with.”

Still, Alward said it’s cause for concern when social-distancing measures allow restaurants and bars to remain only at half capacity. “And not all businesses could afford patios this year,” he said.

At The Roost in Corydon’s Little Italy, co-owner Elsa Taylor said their rooftop terrace and patio quickly became “the easiest way to get people back in our doors.”

“While it wasn’t nearly in the same amount we were used to seeing and we definitely lost business because of how many tables we were actually allowed to have set up, it did make things easier because we could space everyone outside.”

In fact, at Peasant Cookery on Bannatyne Avenue, manager Thomas Johnson said some customers walked out after not being able to get a table at their patio.

“We’ve definitely had it easier than some of the neighbouring restaurants in the city though,” said Johnson.

“Some of them just didn’t get anyone walking in because they didn’t have space to socially distance folks.”

That’s why Taylor said The Roost plans to put space heaters on the patio.

“We just want to prolong this season for as long as we can,” she said.

“At the end of the day, it’s still pandemic times and we’re trying to figure out the best ways to keep going.”

Temur.Durrani@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @temurdur