The New Normal in California #9: The Future of Restaurants

California Groundbreakers

** This podcast was recorded on May 18 ** NOTE: Forgive us for the spots of glitchy audio in this one -- they're worst in the first 4-5 minutes, and then it gets better. Such is podcasting during Pandemic Time! After nearly two months in lockdown, restaurant owners got their first concrete guidelines for opening up again when the state of California issued a 12-page document with 99 new regulations covering everything from physical partitions and closed bars to dishwasher goggles and table wait times. How will these guidelines change the way restaurants look and operate? Will they guarantee safety of staff and customers? How much will the new regulations raise restaurants’ costs of business, and how much of those costs will be passed on to customers? And will those customers even be eating out again when they’re allowed to? Listen to our conversation with Brad Cecci, chef of the Sacramento restaurant Canon, and Jot Condy, CEO of the California Restaurant Association, about what eating out will look like in the New Normal. PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY * 0 to 4:30 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers * 4:30 min - How different Cecchi's restaurant, Canon, will look once it reopens * 6:50 min - How reopening is looking like around California, and will it be the same for different types and sizes of restaurants? * 12:20 min - How friendly are landlords being to their struggling restaurant tenants? * 17:10 min - How to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission between staff and customers during a meal * 23:35 min - How to track sources of outbreaks if a diner falls ill -- and how to address liability risks * 29 min - How will the "fine dining experience" be different, and how do you convince people to come out and pay for it? * 35:35 min - Running a restaurant will become more costly -- what changes will owners make to keep costs low, and what costs will be passed on to diners? * 41:30 min - What types of restaurants will survive, even thrive, and which ones will become obsolete? * 50 min - Restaurants have been around since the 1600s - what aspects of them will stick around, and what New Normal changes will happen after reopening?