Labor
Your Server Is Stressed About the Colder Weather
Food & Wine 10/7
Maskless and demanding customers, 25% capacity, diminished tips, and precarious heater-and-tarp setups make this season extra scary for waitstaff already struggling to survive.
With Indoor Dining’s Return, Workers Must Choose Between Their Income and Their Health
Eater, New York 10/7
When Isabelle Owens arrived at her Fort Greene restaurant last week, she told her manager she didn’t want to serve customers indoors. Her manager consented, but said she’d be one of the first to lose her job as winter progresses and outdoor dining becomes less viable.
Food Industry Policy
Ventura County Reopens for Indoor Dining as Los Angeles Looks Towards End of Month
Eater, Los Angeles 10/7
Decreasing numbers in LA County could mean a return to indoor dining in just a few weeks’ time, even as state officials battle over a reopening timeline for nearby Disneyland.
On the Side
Downtown LA’s Once-Unstoppable Restaurant Scene Now Faces an Uncertain Future
Eater, Los Angeles 10/7
In June, Emil Eyvazoff was deep in preparation. His Downtown restaurants 71 Above and Takami Sushi & Robata hadn’t served a single dish since mid-March, and he was shuttling the half mile back and forth between both businesses in anticipation of his July 13 reopenings.
After nearly 7 months off, Sacramento’s lone Michelin-starred restaurant will reopen
Sacramento Bee 10/7
Sacramento’s sole Michelin-starred restaurant, mothballed almost entirely since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, is coming back to life.
Picnic Raises $3M for its Robot-Powered Pizza Assembly
The Spoon 10/7
Picnic, which makes a robotic system for assembling foods like pizza, has raised $3 million in funding. Geekwire was first to report the news, writing that “Vulcan Capital, Flying Fish Partners, Creative Ventures, Arnold Venture Group, and others put more money behind Picnic.” This brings the total amount raised by Picnic to $20.7 million.
Who Said Opening a Restaurant During a Pandemic Was a Bad Idea?
Nob Hill Gazette 10/7
On a fateful evening in late March, chef John Paul Carmona and his two business partners gathered for dinner after a taxing day of painting walls, hammering banquettes and polishing vintage brass lights for their impending casual French restaurant. Their timing for opening Routier in San Francisco couldn’t have been worse. And they knew it.
We asked restaurateurs, will you reopen for indoor dining?
Berkeleyside 10/7
Alameda County has not yet given the go-ahead for dine-in service, but with other Bay Area counties already reopened, local restaurant owners are considering what they’ll do.
A Turnaround Expert Takes the Helm at Logan’s Roadhouse, Old Chicago
FSR Magazine Oct. 2020
Where an outsider might have seen a daunting project, Jim Mazany saw opportunity. Despite what’s happened since COVID-19, including a high-profile bankruptcy that got ugly before it got better, it isn’t often a restaurant group with this kind of history and equity comes looking for a CEO.
Inside the New Era for Drive Thru
QSR Magazine Oct. 2020
The brands that are emerging strongest from the coronavirus pandemic are those with drive thrus. Here’s what that means for the future of the restaurant industry.
