Restaurant chefs spread the sad message: hurry up to visit your favorite restaurants before you can

The number of guests, four times, the number of employees, a third less

“Our goal is to survive until spring so you don’t miss a thing.” We do not expect to win. In the run-up to work, when quarantine conditions allow, we made it clear that we would lose about 60 percent. income. We report it and discuss it with the team, we plan the activities ourselves to be able to survive with these numbers and to this day they are like this, ”says Kristina Samavičienė, co-owner of the Monai and Momo Grill restaurants. Understanding the situation and starting to work, not wanting to be distracted, and concentrating all efforts on the set goal, at the beginning of the quarantine, Samavičiai, who managed three restaurants with her husband, chef Vytautas, was forced to say goodbye to 30 percent. Workers Some of the Klaipeda and Kaunas teams accepted the hosts’ offer and moved to Vilnius, where the couple’s newest restaurant “Momo Grill” opened in June.

With a similar amount: 30 percent. The team also had to say goodbye to Tomas Rimydis, the owner and chef of the historic Ertlio namas cuisine restaurant in Vilnius. “Although it is very unfortunate for the team, I clearly understand that now I would not have a job for all employees: employment in the restaurant fell four times,” says chef T. Rimydis. According to him, only after the quarantine was announced, all reservations were canceled: all dinners, anniversaries, weddings planned in the restaurant.

There are fears of possible restaurant closings.

A well-known chef, whose restaurant in the old quarter of the capital, the three floors before quarantine, was fully occupied almost every day of the week, is convinced that this year will certainly not be achieved and plans activities for the season of the next year. He is very concerned that in a few months, if he cannot survive, the country will begin to close restaurants. “Until the moment of quarantine, no good restaurant has closed its doors in the country for a year, and this gave hope that the country has already formed and can compete in the world with its gastronomic traditions.” The end of the quarantine, after which we have to work, despite the fact that the guests have not yet returned and we are losing all subsidies and benefits, can bring back the situation when it is necessary to re-attract the attention of foreign guests. “says T. Rimydis.

Trends in restaurant visits return the country’s gastronomic culture to the past

“The restaurants and cafeterias, by concentrating their efforts and resources, implement the requirements established by the Ministry of Health and other state and hygiene and safety supervision institutions. Still, the biggest concern now is how to survive when there are virtually no foreign guests in the country, and local visitors are just beginning to return to normal life. In addition, quarantine and the changing economic situation in the country due to the coronavirus significantly change the habits of restaurant and cafeteria visitors, “says Jūratė Mikalkėnienė, LVVKA Executive Director.

Unexperienced: Mostly visited tried and tested places, looking for cheaper deals, simpler dishes, tasting menus become outdated, low-income residents refuse to visit cafes or restaurants and produce at home. By observing these trends and understanding the threats they pose, LVVKA, its members and partners invite guests to visit already popular and new places, whose best offers, works and creations without guests are nothing, helping restaurants and cafes to survive and strengthen the gastronomic culture of the country.