Coronavirus: Opening raises hopes of cooking on gas

Australia’s $37bn hospitality ­industry is keen to emerge from hibernation this weekend as coronavirus restrictions begin to ease.

Lauren and Yami Yehezkel, at their Wildflour Cafe in Redfern, Sydney, on Monday, will trial outdoor seating at the weekend. Picture: Jane Dempster

Australia’s $37bn hospitality ­industry is keen to slowly emerge from hibernation this weekend as coronavirus restrictions begin to ease, but Victorian businesses are frustrated they will have to wait a little longer before they can ­reopen to dine-in patrons.

Cafes and restaurants will be ­allowed to have 10 seated customers, as well as takeaway services, from Friday in NSW and Saturday in Queensland.

From May 18, hospitality businesses in Western Australia will be allowed to have up to 20 patrons so long as social-distancing measures remain in place.

The changes have been her­alded as good news for those businesses that had remained open over the past few months doing takeaway, self-delivery, grocery and online sales with limited staffing levels.

Wes Lambert, the CEO of Australia’s Restaurant and Catering Association, said 75 per cent of hospitality businesses had remained open in some capacity throughout the COVID-19 crisis, and they welcomed the 10-person limit as “an added revenue stream during a difficult time”.

Mr Lambert said the majority of hospitality businesses that had closed during the pandemic were larger, fine-dining restaurants, and with easing restrictions some were now floating the idea of reopening with “special, intimate dining experiences”.

“Some of our members are planning to provide set menu, fixed-price experiences for up to 10 people, hopefully six to eight seatings between lunch and dinner,” Mr Lambert said.

Chef and restaurateur Luke Mangan, who owns Sydney-based eateries Luke’s Kitchen and Glass Brasserie, said he was looking to open on Friday and Saturday nights, offering a five-course, set menu degustation for 10 people.

“Other than that we won’t be reopening because the first stage of eased restrictions is not really ­viable for our style of restaurant,” Mr Mangan said. “If we were told restaurants were allowed to open again at 50 per cent capacity that would be great because then I can seat up to 75 people and still adhere to social distancing. We’re lucky in that regard that we have quite large spaces, but many other small businesses are not as fortunate.”

Restaurateurs of Melbourne’s Chapel Street precinct on Monday slammed Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews for refusing to lift their state’s restrictions preventing people from dining in until at least the end of May, saying industry was not adequately consulted.

Mr Andrews said his decision to not allow up to 10 patrons to dine in at a venue was in part due to the fact it would not be viable for many businesses, but a larger limit may be permitted from next month.

Chapel Street Precinct Association chair Justin O’Donnell said Mr Andrews should not be deciding what is best for businesses.

“We are disappointed … our Premier has decided he knows what works best for our cafes.”