Featured Guest
You’ll find this guest among our growing roll of Urban Champions.
Wendy Nicolay
Co-founder, Cascade Restaurant Group
Vikram Vij
Co-owner, Vij’s
Pat Watt
Private Equity Analyst, Manulife Investment Management
Matt Webber
Co-Owner, Berkeley North
Alicia Scholer
Vice President, Responsible Hospitality Institute
5 Key
Takeaways
A roundup of the most compelling ideas, themes and quotes from this candid conversation
1. Food as community
Food brings people together, and restaurants have long been spaces to gather, facilitate relationships, and build community. The impact of COVID in the restaurant industry has therefore not only been financial, but also social. Restaurants contribute to the vibrancy of our streets, to creating sociable cities. They are opened to be full and bustling, not largely empty. Institutions in hospitality have been shuttering their doors, which is a hit to our communities. Going forward, making customers feel safe and secure will be a key part of creating a positive customer experience.
2. The essential role of takeout
Takeout has been an essential part of the restaurant industry’s ability to survive during the pandemic, but has come with its own set of challenges. While some restaurants are well equipped and experienced with preparing food to go, others have had to shift on a dime. Menus have had to be adapted. Demand for takeout follows different timing patterns than on site dining generally does, not necessarily congregating around lunch and dinner time. Joining delivery apps has significant financial implications. And there is a significant long-term environmental impact of waste creation at this scale.
3. The adaptation of public space and importance of accessibility
The extension of patios in public space is key to allowing restaurants to operate at capacity, and different climates will face different challenges moving forward as the weather changes. While building a patio is a relatively affordable adaptation, providing heating is not. Changes to allow us to go out safely are happening fast, but they must prioritize accessibility. Visually impaired individuals may depend on memorized street layouts to navigate; changes to public space can be jarring. Adaptations must ensure access for wheelchairs and strollers and not exacerbate accessibility challenges. Closing roads entirely impacts who can access spaces.
4. The unique challenges of nightlife
Nightlife has been completely decimated by Covid; going forward will require a broadening of the idea of nightlife. Cities with nighttime organizations or night mayors have been the most successful at creating relief initiatives. Extensions into public space and loosened alcohol restrictions have been key, but aren’t an option for venues that don’t have food service, such as live music venues and dance clubs. The creativity of the nighttime economy has been and will be essential for its recovery. In some areas, bars have been reopened only to be forced to close again – this start and stop approach has been challenging.
5. The importance of collaboration for new policy solutions
Governmental support has been essential for restaurants and their staff during this time, and will continue to be as they rebuild. There is a need for landlords, business owners, and governments to come to the table and work together to ensure that businesses are able to survive. The push to remove red tape and make things happen has brought about some changes that have been pushed for years. Cities purchasing music venues, offering tax relief, capping takeout delivery fees, and changing alcohol regulations are examples of solutions coming out of this time. Collaboration must continue to occur.
Additional Reading & Resources
Restaurants Canada: Navigating COVID-19: Updates and resources for foodservice operators
National Restaurant Association: Coronavirus Information and Resources
Full Panel
Transcript
Note to readers: This video session was transcribed using auto-transcribing software. Manual editing was undertaken in an effort to improve readability and clarity. Questions or concerns with the transcription can be directed to events@canurb.org with “transcription” in the subject line.
Full Audience
Chatroom Transcript
Note to reader: Chat comments have been edited for ease of readability. The text has not been edited for spelling or grammar. For questions or concerns, please contact events@canurb.org with “Chat Comments” in the subject line.12:01:35 From Canadian Urban Institute: Welcome! Folks, please change your chat settings to “all panelists and attendees” so everyone can see your comments.
12:01:50 From Abby S: WOW! and wonderful!
12:02:09 From Canadian Urban Institute: You can find transcripts and recordings of today’s and all our webinars at https://www.canurb.org/citytalk
12:03:10 From Canadian Urban Institute: Keep the conversation going #citytalk @canurb
12:05:06 From Abby S: And what will these restaurants on the sidewalk do when the weather changes? Just askin’
12:05:51 From Abby S: Toronto/Guelph
12:05:52 From Jonathan Giggs: Port Credit in Mississauga
12:05:53 From Patricia Kimie to All panelists: Patricia from Santa Cruz, CA
12:05:54 From Michelle Warren: Hi everyone, I’m here from Toronto
12:05:56 From Caroline Poole: Today’s guests across Canada are:
Wendy Nicolay: https://twitter.com/thecascaderoom
Alicia Scholer: https://twitter.com/sociablecity
Patrick Watt: https://twitter.com/JCWilliamsGroup
Matt Webber: https://www.instagram.com/berkeleynorthkitchen/
Vikram Vij: https://vijs.ca/
12:05:57 From Liliana Cortes to All panelists: Central California
12:06:02 From Robin McPherson: St.Catharines, Niagara.
12:06:07 From Gillian Mason to All panelists: Beautiful Scarborough Ontario
12:06:07 From Charles Procter to All panelists: Strathmore/Calgary Alberta (Hi everyone!)
12:06:11 From Patrick Fazari to All panelists: Watching from Hamilton, ON
12:06:12 From Carol-Ann Chafe to All panelists: hi Carol-Ann from Access 2 Accessibility in Mississauga, Ontario
12:06:23 From Gillian Mason: Beautiful Scarborough Ontario
12:06:26 From Susan Chin: Greetings from NYC!
12:06:47 From Maureen Luoma: Hello from Downtown Sudbury, Ontario!
12:06:57 From Blaire Prima: Hello from Saskatoon, SK!
12:07:06 From Caroline Poole: Matt’s Berkeley North Restaurant in Hamilton, ON: https://www.berkeleynorth.ca
12:07:06 From Donna Dolan: Hi from Old Mill area of Toronto
12:09:46 From Ralph Cipolla: hello from sunshine city Orillia Ontario
12:10:56 From Caroline Poole: Wendy owns a few restaurants across Vancouver including:
The Cascade Room: https://www.thecascade.ca
El Camino’s: https://www.elcaminos.ca
The Union: https://theunionvancouver.ca
Main St. Brewing: https://mainstreetbeer.ca
12:13:21 From Ralph Cipolla: Ralph Cipolla …….hello from sunshine city Orillia Ontario
12:14:42 From Caroline Poole: Vikram’s restaurants in Vancouver include:
Vij’s Restaurant: https://vijs.ca/vijs-restaurant
My Shanti: https://vijs.ca/my-shanti
Vij’s Sutra: https://vijs.ca/vijs-sutra
12:16:02 From Janet Horner to All panelists: Hi from Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance
12:17:36 From Abby S: Not to mention, the disposable PPE that is now filling up our landfills
12:17:46 From Caroline Poole: Alicia is the VP of Responsible Hospitality Institute in California:
https://www.rhiweb.org
12:23:53 From Mark Guslits: just wondering, as a past part owner of a small restaurant in Prince Edward County, how any one can survive for long without CERB or other incentive packages in place. My experience was that every month was one bad month away from closing. Even though we were a very busy place most days. It seems to me that when the dust clears (if it ever does) the landscape of food service outlets will be a very different (and greatly reduced) one. Or am I just too pessimistic for my own good.
12:24:32 From Caroline Poole: Patrick Watt works with JC Williams Group: https://www.jcwg.com
12:35:30 From Abby S: Even their winter is temperate
12:35:44 From Abby S: Australia I mean
12:35:46 From sue uteck to All panelists: Are your business improvement districts supporting or organizing campaigns to support local? Here in Halifax we are entering our 3rd week of Halifax Re-open Campaign which encourages the public to come out and eat/shop local. We have had very good uptake.
12:36:17 From Canadian Urban Institute: Reminding attendees to please change your chat settings to “all panelists and attendees” so everyone can see your comments.
12:37:25 From Abby S: doen’t winnipeg do lots of creative things in winter around food?
12:38:43 From Carol-Ann Chafe: Are business owners taking accessibility into account both inside and on outside patios? plus do the patios obstruct people in wheelchairs/blind etc. from walking on the sidewalks?
12:39:08 From Abby S: Are diners going to be willing to pay higher prices? And will it become an elitist only pastime?
12:39:38 From Susan Chin: Is there something to learn from Scandinavia? They have outdoor dining and shared streets.
12:41:28 From Andrea Lam: @Abby, some restaurants in the Metro Vancouver area have added a COVID fee. Diners were not notified about this, but saw it on the bill. Maybe it’s a temporary surcharge to offset the costs of ppe and additional cleaning and there are definitely some who support this and others who are outraged.
12:43:31 From Abby S: @Andrea I do not begrudge restaurants raising prices at all…but I just wonder how it will affect overall patronage.
12:44:14 From Abby S: @Vij our experience was that landlords were (in the past) completely unwilling to fix percentage rent (unless it exceeded the minimum) and will the banks finance when this all flows through?
12:45:00 From sue uteck: In Nova Scotia all businesses were eligible for a 5,000 dollar grant for protective equipment. We are now pushing for a travel incentive tax program. Get up to 1-2,000 tax credit for exploring the Atlantic Bubble.
12:45:59 From Canadian Urban Institute: You can find transcripts and recordings of today’s and all our webinars at https://www.canurb.org/citytalk
12:46:29 From Abby S: In order for landlords to work with restaurants, the bank have to work with the landlords…and REITS are different than independent landlords.
12:48:32 From Abby S: Will rents come down as the market contracts?
12:49:12 From Abby S: That was such a common experience in Toronto…so many large (and small) just decided to ignore the program.
12:51:41 From Canadian Urban Institute: Keep the conversation going #citytalk @canurb
12:53:02 From Chris Fraser to All panelists: Getting back to Susan Chin’s comment about outdoor dining, Denmark does a great job of promoting outdoor dining – with heaters – which could apply in Toronto – not for the entire year – but it might allow an extra month or two of capacity outdoors.
12:53:54 From Canadian Urban Institute: Reminding attendees to please change your chat settings to “all panelists and attendees” so everyone can see your comments.
12:54:39 From Renita Dsouza to All panelists: @zipply.ca is one such local delivery service
12:56:11 From Canadian Urban Institute: What did you think of today’s conversation? Help us improve our programming with a short post-webinar survey – https://bit.ly/2AFKPsg
13:01:06 From Abby S: Thank you all! Good luck!
13:01:17 From Gillian Mason: Well done! Scarborough Business Association tomorrow: July 8 Cyber Breakfast – Secrets to Economic Recovery: Scarborough Restaurant Innovation Panel
13:01:29 From Ralph Cipolla: thank you great talk
13:01:31 From Abby S: Thank you Mary!
13:01:34 From Susan Chin: thank you all for the candid comments! yes, go out & support local!
