Stay Open or Close
Restaurateurs, Chefs and Business Owners Make the Impossible Decision
It’s April here in Phoenix as I sit down to write this article. Spring has sprung. The weather is spectacular. The birds are si...
Transitioning to Takeout
Restaurant Chefs, Managers and Owners Tell Their Stories
As a restaurateur, the following has been stuck in my head for the past few weeks:
“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area we call the TWILIGHT ZONE.”
When you open almost any business, let alone a restaurant, COVID-19 is not a scenario you have on your radar. There is no page for it in the “restaurant playbook.” How can you immediately transition from a dine-in restaurant to takeout/delivery only?
Not too long ago all signs were pointing to Phoenix having one of the best restaurant seasons that the city ever had … Barrett Jackson week … Waste Management Open Weekend … our restaurants were packed, with many having record sales. On deck was the start of Spring Training with pitchers and catchers reporting mid-February and the pre-season first pitch on February 21.
Phoenix restaurant nirvana appeared to be upon us.
The first week of March did not disappoint. Despite some growing concerns in other regions, restaurants were packed with Spring Training fans and the start of Spring Break visitors. For those running a restaurant it meant adding to the liquor and wine inventory, and in particular bringing in some pricy stuff for that anticipated throng of March visitors who inevitably like to throw some big cash around. The chefs began to prepare specials featuring the top-line items that sell like crazy this time of year. Moreover, every restaurant staffed up for what should have been night after night of good covers and great tips.
Then came the second week of March. Business at Phoenix restaurants started to soften, with numerous events scheduled at hotels beginning to cancel. On March 17, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego declared a State of Emergency, forcing immediate closure of bars and limiting restaurants to delivery/ takeout/drive-thru only starting at 8pm. After work that day, I was not planning on going out, but thinking that the pandemic might further escalate and who knows the next time I could dine out, I scurried to Tratto at 7:15 for a last supper out for maybe a long time.
The new dimension was upon us. I asked operators of my favorite spots in town that decided to remain open how they responded, and they all said that they had no choice but to think fast.
When was your last dine-in service and what were you thinking leading up to that point?
Cory Oppold & Todd Sawyer (chef & owner, Atlas Bistro)—last service Friday, March 20 (Scottsdale shut down after Phoenix)
“Watching what was going on with the rest of the country we had our suspicions, so we ordered pretty light on Monday for the week anyway, knowing it was going to be the end. We scheduled some friends to come in and do a tasting menu based upon what we had on hand, with our tables ‘socially distanced.’ We take a summer break every year for a month or two so we treated it as if we were closing for summer.”
Cassie Shortino & Blaise Faber (chef & general manager, Tratto)—last service Tuesday, March 17
Blaise Faber: “Watching the national and global conversation, California and New York closed restaurants a couple days before we did, watching restaurants shut down, seeing what they were doing. Were restaurants shut, were restaurants not shut?”
Cassie Shortino: “It was definitely emotional. I was still kind of in shock and I did not know what to think. How long it would last? It’s the last time you are going to see customers. Tratto is a very intimate, small restaurant where you see people eat your food and see people drink cocktails. It makes you feel something when they have a reaction to it. I was really going to miss that, I think, the most. Also, being with the team as an entirety, having that flow of service, it was hard for me to process through at that moment. It was kind of like, ‘What do we do now?’”
Robbie Jo Oliver (director of training and head of liquor and wine, Maestro’s)— last service Wednesday, March 18
“We knew it was coming. Illinois was first, California was second, it all happened right in a row. Two weeks prior we had a call with our senior leaders at Maestro’s; we did not know when, but we needed to be prepared for the closure. We had already stopped ordering non-essential things and we run a very clean program, but to make the guests feel even more safe and secure we put into practice the new cleaning routines for this situation.”
Matt Pool (co-owner, Matt’s Big Breakfast)—last service Tuesday, March 17
“We had remained surprisingly busy right to the end, considering the NBA and Spring Training had been canceled. The weekend immediately prior to the closure, it had tailed off a bit from where we would normally be this time of year. By Monday, the writing was on the wall with what was happening in California, Georgia, the state of Washington and Oregon.”
Cat Bunnag & Dan Robinson (chef/ owner & owner, Glai Baan)—last service Tuesday, March 17
“The Saturday before we were slampacked with a wait. We had a staff meeting called for Sunday, where we decided that we would reduce the restaurant size in half and space everyone out. Tuesday it was full with a wait, so we did a half service while closing at 8.
May & Branden Levine (owner & chef, Sel)—last service Saturday, March 14 “Last couple weeks of February, when things started closing down overseas, it started to slow down when it’s normally busy. The week before the Emergency Order, reservations and private events started to cancel throughout the week.”
How did you react?
Cory Oppold: “Initially I was planning to do in-home catering as I normally do in the summer, but then they issued the full quarantine and I came up with my pickup program. The idea was to feed the service industry something high-quality at a reasonable price. I named my offerings ‘simmer down,’ which means to calm yourself in a state of turmoil, so it made perfect sense.”
Todd Sawyer: “Initially I was thinking of doing Atlas to Go but I did not think our food translated that well to that and felt it was tone deaf to what was going on and what people really wanted. I woke up during the middle of the night on the Wednesday before the last service and it came to me: tamales … gluten free, dairy free, can be vegetarian and can be breakfast, lunch or dinner. We have changed the flavors up: Red Chile Brisket, Lamb with Chocolate Mole, Rajas and Corn. Demand has been more than supply and we have added Italian food partnering with Sonoran Pasta.”
Blaise Faber: “Governor Cuomo [of New York] put out that you could serve takeout wine and cocktails at restaurants, so we as a smaller community started poking the local side (Mayor Kate Gallego) and also the state side (Governor Doug Ducey) of government. We were saying that if we could do this, it would save a huge part of the revenue of restaurants and that this could really help us.
“I had bottles ready to go before it [takeout alcohol] was announced because I had a feeling it was coming and figured what our path of attack would be. I had the menu ready to go. I am a classically driven person, so my menu is exactly the same. I tell people what they should be drinking: the classics done on my terms—Old Fashioned, Martini, Negroni, those things that they are used to, comfortable with and are probably the most popular drinks in the nation anyway. The cocktails we offer to go have an endless shelf life; they are not going to go bad, you don’t have to stir or cocktail them, they are ready to go.”
Cassie Shortino: “I miss having a dining room every day, putting stuff on plates. It’s different doing takeout. It’s been hard to see the staff getting smaller and smaller as the people were getting less hours for such a tight-knit team.”
Robbie Jo Oliver: “The most important thing was to keep in contact with our guests, who we call guests for life. We knew that we were going to do takeout and keep that bond with our guests.
“We have one of the largest menus for a steakhouse/fishhouse with over 100 items and we needed to pare that down to the items that would translate to packaging so that the guests could open the box at home and enjoy. Oysters and seafood towers don’t work as well as the steaks and lobster mashed potatoes, so we pared the menu down to serve delicious food that transferred to the to-go format with the end goal always being the guest experience.”
Bunnag and Robertson: “For us, we wanted to figure out how to keep all our staff working so we decided to open up for takeaway lunch. After one day we were busy and ultimately needed all of our front-of-the-house staff to help with the orders. As soon as cocktails were OKd to be sold to-go we started with two; they kept selling out, so we now offer six or seven different types.”
Photo 1: Sel's Chopped Salad
Photo 2: Sel's Prime Rib
May and Branden Levine: “We started takeout on Friday, March 20, adjusting from the tasting menu to à la carte and family style. The family style serves four with white truffle cauliflower soup, choice of beet salad or the Sel chopped, and entrée choices of Piri Piri Chicken, Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf, Octopus Fried Rice or Caribbean Spiced Stewed Chickpea Bowl. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we offer the prime rib dinner as a family-style option with garlic confit mashed potatoes, white truffle mac and cheese, bordelaise and horseradish with a choice of elote corn or chopped salad and the option of a bottle of wine.”
What Will Restaurants Be Like Upon Reopening?
Todd Sawyer: “When things open back up I anticipate it being less celebratory and more supportive, so we may add a two-course offering to our standard three-course menu.
“We are changing the wine store next door from AZ Wine Company to Atlas Wines, a small big-city-bodega wine shop with independent labels with the right brands that will complement Atlas B.Y.O.B. We’re looking to open near Memorial Day.”
Robbie Jo Oliver: “I don’t know what it’s going to look like. ‘To-go’ is not going away when restaurants reopen as people are going to be used to eating at home. We think our to-go biz will still be popular even after we reopen.”
Bunnag and Robertson: “We probably will keep our new hours of noon– 8 and see how people adjust to opening back up. Before, the to-go orders would interfere with the flow of service but with our model now, we allot four orders a time slot. The most important thing is that there can be no mistakes on an order and that the order is not to be started to be made more than 10 minutes before the pickup time.”
Blaise Faber: “Everyone will be hungry and thirsty to go out, and more so than for just food and drink: for the social experience of it all.”
Cassie Shortino: “I think people are going to want something other than comfort food. I think that’s what people are eating now: fried chicken, short ribs, mashed potatoes and stuff that makes you feel good.
“Hopefully, people are going to want to sit down and have an experience again, actually to dine. All I want to do is do what we were doing before.”
Like all true foodies, Eliot Wexler was born one, not made. Growing up in Chicago, he experienced a broad spectrum of culinary offerings, from Italian beef to the city’s finest restaurants.
Takeout Crib Sheet
As part of the research for this article I tried takeout from these (and other) restaurants. Here’s what I learned:
SIMMER DOWN—Cory Oppold’s program can make you look like a star— no need to tell anyone that you did not make dinner. His instructions work out and the seasoning is spot on. The only cooking involved is for the fish entrée: Heat the oven to 350°. Put an ovenproof nonstick pan over medium-high heat and add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan by ⅛ inch (use a pan that snugly fits the fish). Allow the oil to get hot and shimmering, then lay the filet presentation side down first into the oil away from you, turn down heat to medium and cook until golden brown (about 2–4 minutes). Flip filets and place the pan into the oven. Cook ’til the center is warm. If using a Thermapen,* 120° is rare. I like it 125–130°. Transfer the fish to a paper-towel-lined plate, flipping it back over to the presentation side. Order by privately messaging Oppold on Facebook or Instagram.
TRATTO—Stock your fridge with Blaise’s cocktails so you can casually pour an expertly crafted cocktail. They say pasta waits for no one, so buy the bulk fresh pasta and sauce that Cassie makes and you can have pasta and sauce in minutes with no fuss.
SEL—Order the family dinners; feeding four people a three-course menu with generous portions of Branden’s well-crafted food is the way to go. The prime rib dinner with choice of wine is really a great value. My sleeper pick: three-cheese grilled cheese and soup.
MAESTRO’S—You can buy their steaks raw from them and cook at home for the price you would be paying for prime meat at the store, with a much higher quality … no-brainer.
If you are buying cooked steaks, I would order them rare and finish them in your oven for a few minutes and temp them with your Thermapen* and let them rest.
GLAI BAAN—Max’s Larb Sided Cocktail is my favorite; dumplings are a must addition to any order.
MATT’S BIG BREAKFAST —The 5 Spot has been my go-to forever; Matt says to go with home fries over hash browns for delivery.
TAKEOUT PIZZA—Do not have your pizza cut if you are having it delivered or taking it to-go. Cut it yourself, it holds up better.
Not all pizza is meant for takeout; if you are getting something wood-fired you need to get it from the oven to your mouth as fast as possible, so pick it up yourself and get home as fast as you can because it is meant to be eaten immediately.
LGO pizza has reheating instructions that work perfectly. At Lou Malnati’s, order the Chicago Classic well done and uncut. At Salerno’s, it’s the par-baked thin crust.
* I highly recommend getting a Thermapen MK4 to be able to temp the fish or steak at home.
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