Shortages and Covid fear foretell another bleak winter

[Robin Garr]

Shortages and Covid fear foretell another bleak winter

"Patio heaters are back," The Irish Rover exulted in an October 27 Facebook post. (Irish Rover photo by Colleen O’Leary.)


Winter is coming. Will it be another bumpy ride for local restaurants? Can we do anything to help? As I see it, we’re facing an alarming trifecta of troubling problems as Pandemic Winter II draws near:

• Even with widespread vaccination, we haven’t achieved herd immunity. Covid is still around, the Delta variant is scary, and a lot of people are still staying away from dining rooms.
• Restaurant workers – like many other workers across the economy – are fleeing their jobs in a wave so noteworthy that it’s been dubbed “The Great Resignation.” Just about every eatery in town is understaffed and fighting for applicants, and that may be reflected in service, further diminishing the shrinking restaurant economy.
• The ongoing supply chain problem makes it difficult for executive chefs, and all the rest of us too, to find food and supplies and to budget for rising costs.

So what’s going on in the restaurant scene? Many local restaurants are preparing alternatives to indoor dining. The Irish Rover has put its high-power heaters back on its patio. Porcini has enclosed its patio, fashioning a protected outdoor space. And quite a few eateries are reconstructing pickup areas to provide more room for takeout orders and delivery drivers.

Some are also changing hours to meet new needs.

“We are actually about to switch to a breakfast and lunch menu to counteract the low traffic of dinner diners due to cold weather,” said Devon Rosenblatt, executive chef and general manager at The Fuelery Restaurant and Cafe in Clifton. “We’re also bringing in alcohol to widen our reach. We’d like diners to be able to enjoy a glass of wine or mimosa with breakfast or lunch, and recognize we lose some diners not having those offerings.” They’ve also partnered with two local companies to facilitate delivery.

On the server side, many of those who haven’t quit simmer in a stew of frustration or rage or maybe a little of both. ...

Read the complete article on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/bleak-winter

You'll also find this commentary in LEO Weekly online later this week.
http://www.leoweekly.com/category/food-drink/

It's kind of weird reading some of the quotes from restaurant workers. They sound like what I say about my own job. I wonder if what is going on in restaurants right now is all of society, most of the jobs we work. I work in a white-collar corporate environment, and I've spent years doing the work of several people and burned out because the company wants to save money on staffing. Then wages are kept low for Wall Street so raises are always small.

I don't doubt the wages are higher in Corporate jobs with better benefits than what restaurant workers get but a lot of the same problems exist everywhere, it seems. People are over-worked/doing multiple jobs and jobs not in their job description, can't find daycare so they can even go to a job, and there's no opportunity for advancement.

I wonder whether a reckoning is coming, or if this will all blow over.

[Robin Garr]

Mike, I think that's perceptive. From what I understand, this feeling is moving throughout much of society. Hell, I'm mad at my boss, and I'm self-employed! It does seem as if a reckoning is coming, but I'm not smart enough to know what it will look like.

I don't know one single person who's staying away from Dining Rooms due to "Covid Fear".

I don't know one single person who's staying away from Dining Rooms due to "Covid Fear".

Hello Adrian. Please meet someone who is staying away from dining rooms due to covid.

I don't know one single person who's staying away from Dining Rooms due to "Covid Fear".

Hello Adrian. Please meet someone who is staying away from dining rooms due to covid.

Make that two people.

[Robin Garr]

I don't know one single person who's staying away from Dining Rooms due to "Covid Fear".

Adrian, that's good. We may travel in different circles, though. I could introduce you to quite a few people who are staying away from dining in, particularly thanks to the Delta Variant. I didn't just pull that out of my, you know ...

We dine out a lot and dining rooms are packed. Just got back from Charleston, SC and every restaurant was on a wait and as full as can be.

Try getting a reservation at Ruby's or Repel, they are booked days/weeks out.

I don't know one single person who's staying away from Dining Rooms due to "Covid Fear".

Hello Adrian. Please meet someone who is staying away from dining rooms due to covid.

Make that two people.

2.5. I don't avoid it entirely, but I'm cautious, prefer some space, and look forward to weekends like the upcoming one in which the 60's will make outdoor dining pleasurable. In fact, outside of the dead of summer, outdoor dining has become my preferred mode, with or without covid. I hope that restaurants that have tested it in the last year decide to stick with it.

A different question. On the "supply chain" issue, are there particular areas in which shortages are acute, or is it kid of a random thing? Are there particular ingredients, or equipment, that are in short supply that are causing chefs to make changes?

[Robin Garr]

A different question. On the "supply chain" issue, are there particular areas in which shortages are acute, or is it kid of a random thing? Are there particular ingredients, or equipment, that are in short supply that are causing chefs to make changes?

That is a very good question. I think it's startlingly random. Walk around Kroger and look at the occasional empty shelf amid the full ones. One week it's butter; another it's paper towels. I'm digging into this and have a couple of interesting sources. Happy to find more if any of you can refer me.

A different question. On the "supply chain" issue, are there particular areas in which shortages are acute, or is it kid of a random thing? Are there particular ingredients, or equipment, that are in short supply that are causing chefs to make changes?

That is a very good question. I think it's startlingly random. Walk around Kroger and look at the occasional empty shelf amid the full ones. One week it's butter; another it's paper towels. I'm digging into this and have a couple of interesting sources. Happy to find more if any of you can refer me.

We got hooked on Whole Foods and Kroger delivery and really haven't been going to the grocery.

I stopped in Kroger (Hubbards) a week or so ago to pick up a prescription and some ingredients for tacos and was shocked at how bare some of the shelves were. I got the last bag of "normal" tortilla chips, plenty of non-corn alternatives left. The chip aisle was 1/4 full and the frozen section was pretty much wiped out.

I ate indoors once in the past year, when we were in Asheville in a completely empty back dining room of White Duck Tacos. I also ate on the patio of Molly Malone's in the fall. Everything else has been carry-out. I get groceries delivered. If I have to wait somewhere for pick-up, I might have a beer with my mask off (usually I take it outside for that), but otherwise I'm masked up.

Maybe I'm being too cautious, but I've got 3 years more wait before my daughter can get vaccinated unless the rules change, so I'm taking care and getting tested weekly at my employer.

My fiance and I eat out at least twice a week. We mix it up with carry-out and dine-in. We're fully vaccinated (I've had my third booster), but I still wear a max until my food hits the table.

When we dined in for our birthdays (Grassa Gramma and Steak & Bourbon back in August) the places were packed indoors (and also fully staffed). Service was excellent. If restauranteurs pay well and treat their employees well, staffing isn't an issue.

Fast food/casual, on other hand, has been a complete mess. Some places can't seem to keep their credit/debit card systems operational. Wendy's at Bardstown Road and Hurstbourne was down for MONTHS this year. Lee's Famous Recipe on Poplar Level has also been down for a very long time. I'm quite perturbed because we were asked earlier this year to please use plastic due to a cash/coin shortage. Now we can't use plastic because they can't keep their machines working? Anyway, most places are very short-staffed (despite offering pay upwards of $15-$16 and even offering same-day paychecks). I follow Gaslite Diner in J-town on FB, and with opening during COVID and staffing issues and illness, they're really struggling. I'd hate to see them go because finding a good diner out in the southeast end of the city is not easy.

Groceries: I've found the randomness of shortages rather bemusing (aside from the Great Toilet Paper/Paper Towel Debacle of 2020). Meijer has been absolutely terrible at keeping shelves stocked (don't go after 3 pm any weekday or chances are you won't find half of your shopping list). They shut down their deli before 5 pm last week which is terrible. There was almost no ice cream of any kind left. The Kroger at Stonybrook has also started shutting down early. They can't pre-cut and bag every meat and cheese product they have so this really hurts folks who need to shop after work.

Maybe the shortages aren't so much shortages but lack of manpower to get the stuff out of the stockroom and onto the shelves. Stores used to offer that third shift for stocking, and I'm not sure any of them are now that stores aren't open 24/7. Kroger in Fern Creek had to start closing at 10 pm because they were having so many problems with homeless people coming in and shoplifting.

It's just a mess.

[Robin Garr]

Thanks for the overview, Terri. Sad story, but helpful. And yeah, it doesn't surprise me that Kevin Grangier handles things well at Grassa Gramma.

I recall hearing (within the last year I believe) that grocery stores would be suffering a pork shortage. Yesterday Kroger had back ribs on sale half price. Not too many turkeys to be seen however. When I asked I was told, “oh, there’s some back there, it’s a matter of getting them out front.” It made me wonder how much some of these shortages are contrived? At least for products on this side of the oceans. I honestly don’t know.