‘Pause’ leaves restaurateurs with sour taste

Business owners were taken by surprise when Daniel Andrews decided to ‘pause’ further moves out of lockdown on Sunday as an outbreak is monitored.

Restaurateur Scott Pickett brought thousands of dollars of produce into his closed restaurant Estelle, in Northcote, Victoria, before the ‘pause’. Picture: Daniel Pockett

Melbourne restaurateurs are frustrated about being stuck in a “massive limbo” over the constant changes to Victoria’s COVID-19 road map, saying clarity on dates is crucial to avoid staff confusion and wastage of produce.

Business owners were taken by surprise when Daniel Andrews decided to “pause” further moves out of lockdown on Sunday as the state continued to monitor an outbreak of coronavirus cases in the northern suburbs.

Melbourne chef Scott Pickett said he arrived at his Northcote restaurant Estelle on Sunday morning hoping to prepare for a reopening this week.

Instead, Mr Pickett spent the day cancelling food orders and telling staff not to come in.

“A lot of food has already arrived, and we’re in crisis mode trying to keep pivoting to the change of road map,” he said.

“The initial road map was so severe that to get under five cases was a huge achievement, and now it’s still not good enough.”

Mr Pickett said he had noticed a significant decrease in the mental health of his staff in recent weeks. “There was a spring in their step, a spark in their eye (after being told they were likely to return this week), and now I can’t tell them when they’re coming back to work,” Mr Pickett said.

“Nobody knows what’s going on to be honest.”

Pickett sits on a bench in his restaurant. Picture: Daniel Pockett

Mr Pickett, who was planning on reopening three restaurants, will put back plans to bring back close to 100 staff. He’s already brought in thousands of dollars in produce. “And it’s not just chefs and waiters,” he said. “It’s the cleaners, kitchen hands, the reservations guy … unfortunately, JobKeeper supports about 30 per cent of our people because a lot of them are international.”

Mr Pickett said his greatest achievement during the pandemic was not having to stand down his staff or retrench them. Instead, the little work generated from takeaway business had been rationed across his employees. “But it’s becoming dire,” he said.

Andrew Joy, co-owner of the Carlton Wine Room restaurant, said it was “disappointing and confusing” to be stuck in a “massive limbo” with no clarity on when he can reopen or how.

“To get a restaurant back up and running you really need at least a week lead time, minimum, to get it happening,” Mr Joy said.

“We’re given a date and then it’s repealed and we can’t properly plan. It’s getting to the point where the frustrations are mounting and it takes away any ability to plan moving forward.”

Traders from the Chapel Street Precinct in Melbourne’s inner southeast slammed the government’s reopening pause and said it was clear they did “not have business’ best interests at heart”.

“Is the cure worse than the disease? For metro Melbourne, I’m afraid it now absolutely is,” Chapel Street Precinct general manager Chrissie Maus said.

“Even the most resilient are being tested,” she said. “ This is the make-or-break Christmas quarter for many of our businesses.”