Photo credit: Etienne DeYans

The numbers are frightening. Nearly 1,800 restaurants have permanently closed their doors since March and the start of the Covid-19 epidemic in New York. Faced with the drop in cases this summer and the implementation of measures such as social distancing and the wearing of masks, the city first authorized food stores to reopen only outdoors in early July, then at 25% rate filling inside since September 30.

“This is a very insufficient measure”, considers Max Guichard, manager of the restaurant Troquet in SoHo. “We can only seat 12 people in the dining room. It is not profitable ”. “It’s better than nothing”, estimates Damien Frey, owner of La Cigogne, a French restaurant with Alsatian touches in the Cobble Hill district of Brooklyn. “We would all like to welcome 100% of our customers, or at least 50%. But are people ready to come back to eat indoors with all these outbreaks re-developing? I do not think so”. Etienne DeYans made the courageous choice to open in the midst of a pandemic, in October, in the Flatiron District. Its restaurant, Gypsy Rose, has several interior spaces with a bar and a dining room with ten tables, as well as a sixty-seat terrace. “We don’t know where we will be in the coming weeks, so I am investing in covering and heating my terrace”, explains this Congolese born in Belgium.

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Focus on “outdoor dining”

Like Etienne DeYans, French restaurateurs rely on their terrace to survive, despite the drop in temperatures and winter as a backdrop. They are supported in this task by the city, which has authorized the extension of “outdoor dining” until further notice. “We are in the process of upgrading our terrace with wooden slabs and a rigid jail roof”, details Max Guichard, whose restaurant has 36 outdoor seats on the corner of Lafayette St and Grand St. “Here again we have constraints because we must leave at least 50% of the space open”. “Me jI anticipated by purchasing propane cylinders in August. Prices have quadrupled since ”, loose Damien Frey. New York City only allows gas heaters on sidewalks, while electric heaters can be installed on street terraces. “We have to take out a lot of money again, knowing that the prices of raw materials have exploded. In particular, it takes $ 150 for a glass separating the tables. When there is still stock! I had a hard time finding light garlands for example ”, adds Etienne DeYans. The contractor is setting up large tents on 26th St between 5 and 6th Ave where he has his own patio.

Not all were lucky enough to be able to open a terrace, however. This is the case of Pascaline Lepeltier, sommelier and co-manager of the Racines restaurant in Tribeca. “The part of the block we’re in is on the MTA bus line. We are unlucky to be there. If we were 300m away, that would change everything“, She laments. His establishment just reopened on October 15, after six months without a single customer. “We tried to survive as best we could. We tried our hand at take-out and for take-out, we sold wine, negotiated our rent down. Fortunately we ended up touching the PPP ”. The PPP, for “Paycheck Protection Program”, is an assistance program in the form of a non-repayable loan offered to companies to maintain their employees and their salaries despite the crisis. The Troquet restaurant has also benefited. “Without that, we would have gone out of business”, admits Max Guichard.

Another measure meant to help restaurateurs was passed by New York City Hall on September 16, the “COVID-19 Recovery Charge”. This non-mandatory 10% surcharge can be added to the customer’s bill by restaurants. “This is the stupidest invention possible”, comments Damien Frey. “It is surely not up to the customer to pay more, knowing that he must already add to his bill the sales tax and the tip“. “It’s not in our plans either, if only for a question of image”, Max Guichard outbid. Same story with Pascaline Lepeltier, who believes that catering is neglected by the public authorities. “There would be a lot of national assistance programs to plan, especially on rents, on taxation, but I am not kidding myself. Everything is blocked because of the presidential election ”.

Diversify or die

Etienne DeYans opened Gypsy Rose in October on the premises of the Holiday Inn hotel. A partnership with a well-known brand which will help it develop a clientele. “We offer our meals in room service, we will also set up a bakery stand for breakfasts in partnership with Pistache. This allows us to diversify in addition to the terrace and deliveries ”, explains the restaurateur. Pascaline Lepeltier plans to develop her wine sales, which has a cellar with many references. “We will not get away with 18 seats in our dining room. We are going to hang on because it would be hard to abandon a project like this one which worked well before the crisis ”. On the Troquet side, Max Guichard explains “Understand the restrictions even if they can end up killing us”. The manager of this charming French bistro in SoHo wants to stay positive, “But we are not optimistic about our fate”.

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