Hoping ‘this nightmare will be over soon’: On the frontlines of a restaurant in the pandemic — podcast
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For many people, one of the abiding questions of 2020 is whether their favourite restaurant will survive? The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on restaurants, all but eliminating the indoor dining experience.
In the hospitality industry at large, roughly 67 per cent of workers reported experiencing a mental health issue since the start of the pandemic, and roughly 60 per cent of business owners say they’re losing money, according to an October survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses.
On this week’s episode of Down to Business, Trevor David, the owner, and self-described “chief cook and bottlewasher” at The Art of BBQ smokehouse, described what the past nine months have been like for him working six days a week, and making meals for dozens of people nearly every day.
David said the second wave of the virus has reduced his operations to 40 per cent of its normal operations. Although he’s still working a gruelling six days per week, it’s a struggle to stay open, he said.
