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TThe New South Wales state government has announced that kitchen bars and clubs may reopen on May 15, as Covid-19 locks ease. The reopening of restaurants and cafes will be allowed on the same date.
But saying “pubs are reopening” doesn’t capture the truth of the situation. Bars and pubs will be subject to the same social distance and personnel limits as other places, with 4 square meters of space for each client, up to a maximum of 10 clients. According to the public health order issued on May 14, pubs and clubs may only open “an on-site eating area”, and may serve alcohol “only if any liquor sold is sold with or in addition to the food served “
The experience most typically associated with a pub, ordering a beer from the counter, will not return to the menu. “The ability to direct politics in the front bar of a pub is probably still a long way off,” John Green of the Australian Hotel Association told Guardian Australia. Green says it is impossible to know how many of the more than 2,000 industry body members in New South Wales will be able to trade again, but notes that in rural areas in particular, “many customers don’t have the option of choosing where to eat, so reopening your pub to provide meals is an important factor. ”
Katie Galvin of the Thirsty Crow in Wagga Wagga says they have made the decision to reopen only by reservation. The brewery and pub, which was previously open for takeaway, will invite their first customers starting Monday, May 18. Galvin says they will offer “slot machines for an hour and a half.” Then they will turn around, thoroughly clean the place and reopen for another group of up to 10 people.
Lady Hampshire, in the Camperdown suburb of Sydney, is taking a similar approach. Publican Chris Traill says that since the pub is already open six nights a week to go “it’s not an exaggeration for us to have … 10 people for dinner.”
Starting Friday, May 15, the pub will reopen for early bookings. “We are getting a lot of interest, obviously people want to have a pub diet.”
Since closing, Traill says he has lost 90% of his turnover, and while 10 additional patrons at the bar won’t make much of a difference, “anything that can boost our turnover so that we can continue to pay our staff is … a positive”.
Some larger hospitality groups are taking a similar approach. Paul Waterson is the CEO of Australian Venue Co, which manages 150 locations across the country, including 13 in Sydney and one in rural New South Wales. They decided to open four of their largest locations on May 15, including Cargo Bar and Bungalow 8 at Sydney’s King Street Wharf, which can accommodate more than 1,000 customers.
“It will be a table service sitting in each of the places,” says Waterson, who he says will be “unusual, given the size of the Cargo or Bungalow.” He says, “It won’t be a typical King Street Wharf experience that you spend until late at night in a crowded bar.” Although much of the Australian Venue Co staff is now in worker payments, “We’re not going to make money opening with 10, but I think it’s more about building trust with our places as a place to eat and socialize.” If the restrictions say we can only have 10 people, we just have to deal with it. “
Australian Venue Co has also developed an application that will allow users to order and pay from their phones, to limit staff contact if users prefer.
The multi-level wine bar Sydney CBD, the Prince of York, is taking a different approach to the 10-person limit. Open only for individual group bookings, with a $ 100 minimum cost per guest. “We are making the Prince of York his own private place with dinner and a nightclub,” says co-owner Paul Schulte. They are even encouraging guests to bring their own DJs.
But, for many places, math just doesn’t add up. All of the businesses that Guardian Australia contacted with that plan to reopen on or near May 15 already had take-away offers, but for pubs where “food is the bright side of our drinks,” like the local Sydney, Friend in Hand, “We are reconfiguring our entire business,” says Emily Caska, who works for the hospitality group that owns the pub, and five other locations in the west interior of Sydney. The business has decided to delay opening for a few weeks to prepare. “June first is our D-day deadline,” says Caska.
Joy Ng of Bearded Tit, a bar and performance space catering to Sydney’s LGBTIQ community, considered the reopening. “I sat down with my accountant and we looked at the numbers and we will lose too much money.” She is waiting for the restrictions to be eased significantly, if not entirely. “If we want to have the best opportunity to reopen again … we cannot pay what little money we have left to lose the trade.”
Not only the smallest and most independent places have made the decision to remain closed for now. Solotel Group and Merivale, two of Sydney’s biggest players in the hospitality business, have decided to focus on their new take-out and home-cooked food businesses until the restrictions are eased further.
For places that choose to reopen, Green says “this will be hospitality but not as you know.” However, he is optimistic that even the limited reopens will be a boon to AHA members. “We see it as a small step towards allowing the reopening of venues … in a much more normal way … We are committed to ensuring that customers and licensees take this opportunity seriously and see it as a privilege.”
