Leigh Street Wine Room and other top restaurants at risk of closure because of ambiguous COVID law that restricts dining at a bar.
Restaurateurs say they will soon be out of business as conflicting messages, bizarre rules governing the height of tables and confusion among authorities push them to the brink of collapse.
Food & Wine
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Some of Adelaide’s top restaurants are at risk of closure because of ambiguities in the COVID laws regarding dining at a bar.
Restaurateur Sali Sasi, of the acclaimed Leigh Street Wine Room, has accused the police of “double standards”.
The boutique venue was told on Sunday night that they could no longer sit diners at their bar, despite the fact they are not serving drinks or food from across the counter. It had been understood that restaurants could use their bar counters as communal table seating, under that condition.
“That is 50 per cent of our capacity,” said Mrs Sasi, who opened the venue with her husband, Nathan, one year ago. “We now have a non-viable business model.”
Restaurateur Simon Kardachi, who owns 13 bars and restaurants, has ceased bar dining across his venues, such as at the nearby Shobosho and Hyde Park’s Nido.
He said restrictions had been “policed differently” across his venues.
“Our Hyde Park venues were heavily policed at the beginning of the changes and as a result we followed through with all restaurants, including the city,” he said.
“Essentially, if you are cooking behind or using any bar in any capacity (eg fridges, sinks, POS systems, etc) you aren’t to allowed to sit customers there.”
However, chef/restaurateur Duncan Welgemoed, of city venue Africola, said he has not been advised against using his bar as a “communal high top table”.
Africola’s bar area equates to 40 per cent of its capacity, and stopping that trade would result in “substantial losses, which couldn’t be sustained”.
“I can understand the need to stop any community transfer while people congregate and wait for drinks at a pub, but people sitting high instead of sitting low in a restaurant, receiving the same experience … cannot be more susceptible to COVID because of an altitude difference,” Mr Welgemoed said.
Mrs Sasi said their warning came after three different police officers assured them their bar seating was okay, because it was a “non-service bar”.
When asked about the issue at Thursday’s press conference, Premier Steven Marshall said:
“I don’t make the rules; SA Health is really clear that you can’t be having seated dining a place where there’s food or beverage service, but there’s a lot of ways that different organisations have worked around that.
“What we have done in particular for those CBD operators is try to activate more outdoor dining, and if you like increased their licensed area.”
Mrs Sasi described the situation as “beyond ridiculous”.
“Our government can allow home gatherings of up to 50 people with no social distancing measures, yet small venues and bars who operate safely with COVID marshalls and strict hygiene practises are deemed unsafe?” she said.
It comes as South Australia declared itself COVID free. South Australia’s transmission committee meets on Friday to discuss current restrictions.