Learning From Lockdown

“In the rush to return to normal, use this time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to. If things go back exactly as they were, we will have missed the opportunity to take the good from this bad.” Dave Hollis

In March 2020 the hospitality industry was virtually brought to a standstill as COVID-19 struck and isolation measures were introduced.

It was a situation none of us asked for, catastrophic financially and personally to many businesses and families yet as we prepare to emerge from isolation, perhaps there are some unexpected learnings to take with us.

We asked several restaurateurs what they would take from COVID times.

Foremost in the minds of both Patrick Rabbath (Rabbath, Burleigh) and Emmi Kendall (Lucky Bao, Mermaid Waters) have been people, both customers and staff.

“The human aspect has been amazing, how people have pulled together, how understanding our return guests have been and how they have supported us during the crisis,” Patrick Rabbath says.

“Our sense of community has been strengthened,” Emmi Kendall tells us, “and so has our staff. Overseas workers are not eligible for government benefits when they are unemployed, so it has made our team better by us looking after each other.”

When normal operations slowed and stopped, creativity and thinking outside the square have become essential to survival.

Erfan Jalilian (Shiraz, Surfers Paradise) extended his restaurant’s services from purely dine in or takeaway. He added a personal touch by serving takeaways and Persian groceries from a table at his restaurant’s entrance, chatting to customers and serving free tea while they waited for takeaway. His family feasts include a $20 post-COVID dining voucher, and he’s introduced his own home delivery service across the Gold Coast which will remain post-COVID, he says.

“Slower trade gave us the opportunity to do some things we’d always wanted to do at Lucky Bao,” says Emmi. ”We became more creative, bottling cocktails, sauces and marinades such as our famous Crack Sauce and Spicy Korean glaze, which are now available to purchase.”

It gave others the chance to re-evaluate what they were doing.

“So much ‘fluff’ existed in the industry before the crisis,” says Patrick Rabbath. “In some ways it was a false economy. When we had to stop providing service, it pared us back to what people actually needed and things became a lot more transparent. We had to come back to a ‘meat and potatoes’ mentality,” he said, adding takeaway items as another income stream and considering a format for weekend brunches.

Consumers, too, have had their own cleanouts, physically, mentally and financially. For some, isolation has provided “…an opportunity to do some housekeeping in where we focus, who we spend time with, what we consume, how we work, what matters and most importantly what doesn’t.”

They’re all lessons we didn’t ask for.