A year ago, Jacksonville s restaurant owners faced a challenge: how to adapt and survive amid a mandatory shutdown of dining rooms due to the coronavirus pandemic.
To keep the lights on and serve their customers and keep as many of their employees on the job as possible they did just that. They added drive-thrus, pivoted to takeout only, added curbside pickup and launched in-house delivery services. Some even added food trucks.
Others, however, were forced to turn off the lights altogether either temporarily or, in some cases, forever.
Now, with vaccine centers up and running, mask mandates discontinued and social distancing a distant memory, people are returning to Jacksonville restaurants in close to pre-pandemic numbers.
Ember & Iron, a St. Johns County restaurant that offers “rustic American fare” prepared on an 8-foot-long custom, oak-burning grill, announced it will open at 4 p.m. Feb. 22.
Ember & Iron is at 60 Shops Blvd., Suite 80, in the Shoppes of St. Johns Parkway.
Chef Mike Cooney and his wife, Brittany, own the restaurant.
“I’ve been dreaming of my own restaurant since I was a teenager. The idea for Ember & Iron came from my memories of cooking around a grill or fire with my family,” Mike Cooney said in a news release.
“Cooking over an oak-burning grill produces flavors that you can’t get from a gas grill. Combined with fresh, seasonal ingredients, live fire cooking allows us to offer a menu unlike any other in the area.”