Karsyn Lemmons

This story was originally published on April 2, 2020.

So much of the service industry is about saying ‘yes’ that it’s almost bizarre when the correct response is ‘no’, said Foreign & Domestic Chef and Owner, Sarah Heard, when she described her immediate reaction to new health and safety measures in Austin restaurants.

For the first time, restaurants across the city are telling guests to stay back, don’t touch the door. They’ll come to you.

In the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, the food and service industry was among the first to feel the effects of social distancing orders that instructed individuals to not organize in groups larger than ten and always maintain a distance of at least six feet from one another. Many independent restaurants throughout Austin were forced to make quick decisions concerning the fate of their establishments and what closing would entail. And for those who chose to remain open, they immediately faced challenges they had never experienced before. Suddenly gone were the days of full bars and bustling kitchens, instead replaced with dining chairs flipped on tabletops and signs requesting customers to remain in their cars.

From preparation to plating to delivery, remaining restaurants were required to adjust practices to accommodate new rules in the food service world. Heard described the modifications of her New American cuisine as an ever-changing experiment.

“Lettuce doesn’t make a great garnish after it’s been sitting in a to-go with hot food,” said Heard when describing how food presentation has shifted in the transition from plate to box. “We’re making changes. We’ve begun to sous-vide [a culinary method involving placing the food in a plastic pouch and cooking in a water bath] our meats as it helps the meats to retain moisture. We’re also keeping in mind that customers may want to re-heat these meals later, so changing how we prepare these meals is essential in some cases.”

Other restaurants are beginning to respond to local’s requests for food they can prepare at home with the help of these restaurant’s recipes and ingredients. Owner of locally-sourced Lenoir, Todd Duplechan, and his team are currently working on preparing dishes that start in their kitchen but can be completed at a customer’s home.

“It’s a recipe for disaster if we just tell people how to do it. And this isn’t the time for that,” said Duplechan. “But if we can create a meal that people can then finish off themselves, they still get to do something interactive and quite literally have something to pass the time.”

In an attempt to counter restaurants’ lost revenue amid restrictions, Governor Greg Abott signed a waiver on March 18th authorizing restaurants to sell alcohol with food delivery orders. While at first glance the waiver may appear as a win, many restaurant owners have seen little to no difference in increased revenue. Buzz Mill Chief of Culture and Exploration, Jason Sabala, stated that alcohol delivery sales in response to the waiver represented ‘a fraction of a fraction’ of what was needed to sustain their business. Yet Peached Tortilla Director of Operations, Beto Solis, says this has been an opportunity to get creative in his ‘Asian meets Southern’ restaurant.

“Texas currently has the highest percentage of alcohol consumption in the country,” said Solis. “So that’s something we want to work with. Right now we’re selling a type of DIY cocktail set where we give them everything they’d need to make the cocktail – whether it’s the lime, the simple syrup, the mixer, whatever it is to make their cocktails like we do here.”

When asked where their thoughts drifted while driving to work during the past two weeks, the response of these restaurant owners and leaders was almost unanimous – survival. Not just for themselves, but for their restaurant and all those who had previously worked under that roof and become known as a second family. In this time of uncertainty, they say they are doing everything they can to support their previous staff members who are now without jobs.

“We’re lucky. A lot of vendors have been giving us extra food,” said Solis of Peached Tortilla. “It helps us ensure that everyone can keep food on the table. We make staff meals where people can come by during the day and pick up what they need.”

It is clear this time is one of the hardest challenges many restaurant owners have faced in their careers and they were saddened by the knowledge that not every restaurant would be able to reopen once restrictions were eased and doors unlocked.

“Our thoughts are with our fellow restaurant-running friends that may not reopen,” said Heard as her voice cracked and she pushed back emotion. “And we know how hard they’ve worked to get where they are. And to think that something completely out of their control could cause them to close– it’s the scariest thought.”

For now, Austin’s independent restaurants are doing what they can to stay in their community and simultaneously adjust to the new obstacles discovered each day. Although there are challenges, they say they have also found rewards. On the days where to-go orders flood their kitchens and ticket times are nearly an hour, they say the message is clear – their community is still there. It still supports them. And it wants them to stay afloat. It is through these observed acts of solidarity that people like Beto Solio say they find the inspiration to continue firing up the grill in the days to come.