We visited 3 local restaurants to see what they’re doing to help prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Perhaps no other industry was hit like the food industry when Covid-19 spread its wings, reaching out from Asia and Europe finally landing here in North America. And still, even during Covid-19, society found a need for food and yes, even take-out during what can be thought of as the worst pandemic in recent history, and certainly in the new millennium. But of course all of this goes without saying.
Yet there are those eateries that remained open, or rather found a way to still serve the community. So we did a little digging and located three restaurants and decided to take a deeper look at these three specifically in order to see how they were dealing with Covid-19.
Maison Indian Curry
A welcoming sight for those willing to have a taste of India/Exterior of Maison Indian Curry (Via Domenic Marinelli)
We had the opportunity to speak to Rajit Chopra, son of the owner (his mother Rajni) about how things were going so far and he had this to say: “We opened the dining room a few weeks ago, but we realized that people weren’t really following the rules; it was getting a bit hostile. So we decided to offer them pick-up and delivery instead—it was safer for them. Here, now there’s less contact with the people and it’s easier to control.”
They closed that first week at the height of Covid-19 and lockdown, and then got straight to work on setting up the delivery platforms such as Uber Eats and Skip The Dishes, delivery not being something they did before Corona.
They are doing well as it stands, despite the fact that the delivery platforms take up a lot of their earnings. As for the kitchen, all precautions are being taken, all the way up to contact between produce delivery drivers and kitchen staff. They let none of the deliveries pass through the dining room, only from the basement. They opened in 2002.
Jiu Xiang Yuan
Perhaps the Chinese food market was hit hardest during this crisis, and this location was closed completely during the Covid-19 crisis in its early stages. In fact, it was they themselves that decided to close three days before all bars were meant to close for quarantine.
They decided to focus instead on the other side of their operation, a bar called Bar Central. This restaurant has had great reviews in the past and despite this, they felt it was better to close, more as a preventative measure than anything else, says bartender Kefu Wang. They now close at 12 rather than 3am, and business is slowly rising, Kefu also stated.
Tripolis Restaurant
Instead of closing the dining room, they were in fact serving in the day we went in to have a look. There were a few clients, scattered well throughout the dining room. The hostess was wearing a mask, as was the cook, cooking up a storm behind the partition at the back.
There was hand sanitizer at the door as well as signs posted up requesting the wearing of a mask. They seemed to be doing quite well, and not only abiding by the rules but enforcing them as well.
They declined comment at the time, as they were busy for such a small staff of what looked like two, but we wanted to include them in the piece, as they were hard at work and are one of many of the Greek restaurants in Park Ex.
Supporting local food
Who knows if the dining experience will ever be the same again, or if it is forever changed, but there are those restaurants out there, like these three we took a close look at, that are doing everything in their power to keep their community safe, and we are sure that there are many others in the area as well.
