Restaurateurs toast the return to in-house dining

As many fine-dining restaurants look to more normal service, some are hoping to strengthen their offering.

Rockpool’s Tom Pash. Picture: James Croucher

As many fine-dining restaurants begin to resume something approaching normal service from June 1, some have used the period to reconfigure and hopefully strengthen their offering, while others are banking on people’s desire to return to normality.

In NSW, the Berejiklian government will loosen capacity restrictions for restaurants from Monday, opening the door for larger venues to have more than 100 people across different dining spaces.

While the government had previously announced restaurants, pubs and cafes would be allowed 50 patrons per venue, industry documents exclusively obtained by The Weekend Australian reveal restaurants will be able to house 50 patrons “in an existing seated dining area”.

It is understood this means restaurants will be able to seat 50 people in an inside dining venue, an additional 50 in an outside space, and more in a private dining room — as long as they ensure social-distancing regulations, or one customer per 4sq m.

For cherished Sydney haunt Rockpool Bar & Grill, there were some “dark periods” throughout the enforced hibernation, says Rockpool Dining Group chief executive Thomas Pash, but he believes the crisis will enable the company’s several restaurants to emerge “better and stronger”.

As the crisis solidified across March, Pash says the company attempted to get out in front of the crisis, making several structural changes, while slashing capital expenditure. But he believes the period will position the company well for the future.

“As we were in hibernation, we worked with lenders, landlords, vendors, and other stakeholders to position our business to not only survive the lockdown period, but to come out of it leaner, stronger and better,” Pash tells The Weekend Australian.

“We also used this time to work through other strategic projects for when we re-open and to further strengthen our group.”

Having already pivoted two businesses into alternative offerings — Fratelli Fresh became Fratelli Fresh Grocer, while Sake Double Bay launched a takeaway service — Pash says the company will accelerate its move towards digitalisation, with several restaurants moving to digital menus, enabling contactless order, and providing digital pay technology.

Amid the upheaval, Michael Saadie, acting chief operating officer for NAB’s Business and Private Bank, says many businesses will have used the period to reconfigure their approach, meaning many may emerge from hibernation more effective and efficient: “I think buyer behaviour will shift quite dramatically. So that will be a change, and I can certainly see a point in time where these companies and SMEs become more effective and efficient, because they’re working through what is the best way to deliver their product to the end-user.”

Wes Lambert, chief executive of Restaurant & Catering Australia, says he is thankful that state and territory leaders had listened.

“From Monday thousands of restaurants will begin to feel more like normal. We have been working hard to accelerate the patron limit increases,” Lambert says, adding the task now fell to the dining public to get out and eat.