OTTAWA It’s the first weekend of Step 3 of the economic reopening in the province and as reopening rolls on Ottawa businesses are taking advantage of the new found freedoms. For the first time in three months, people can dine indoors at bars and restaurants this weekend, head to a gym or gather in larger groups. For many this is the biggest step toward normalcy since the start of the pandemic. The first table we welcomed in it was very surreal, said Sarah Chown, managing partner of the Metropolitan Brasserie and Ottawa Chair of the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association.
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Ottawa’s beleaguered small businesses are accepting the latest toughening of provincial pandemic restrictions with a mix of fatalism and frustration.
Among the most disappointed entrepreneurs were restaurateurs who as of Saturday must shut their patios as well as their dining rooms. The eateries had been expecting a shift from red zone restrictions to tougher grey zone measures, which would have halted indoor dining but allowed outdoor dining. But Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said Thursday that the province-wide “emergency brake shutdown,” which is to begin Saturday and last at least 28 days prohibits patio dining.
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In an effort to help the beleaguered hospitality sector recover from the pandemic, the city is proposing to let restaurants and bars take up more street space to make their patios larger and to stay open longer during this year's outdoor dining season.
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As grim as a pandemic-ridden 2020 was for Ottawa’s restaurants, Walid El-Tawel has a sunnier view of the year ahead.
The strategic advisor and project manager at the restaurant supply company Chef’s Paradise has an inside track on how Ottawa’s restaurateurs are eyeing 2021. And instead of forecasting doom and gloom, El-Tawel, a former fine-dining chef himself, even talks about positive developments for Ottawa food lovers.
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Try refreshing your browser, or After being clobbered by COVID-19 in 2020, Ottawa restaurants are optimistic 2021 can only be better Back to video
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As grim as a pandemic-ridden 2020 was for Ottawa’s restaurants, Walid El-Tawel has a sunnier view of the year ahead.
The strategic advisor and project manager at the restaurant supply company Chef’s Paradise has an inside track on how Ottawa’s restaurateurs are eyeing 2021. And instead of forecasting doom and gloom, El-Tawel, a former fine-dining chef himself, even talks about positive developments for Ottawa food lovers.
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Try refreshing your browser, or NOT GOING TO BE EASY : Ottawa restaurants optimistic - and nervous - for 2021 Back to video
“There’s some really cool stuff coming down the pike for 2021,” he says, hinting that he expects new, exciting restaurants to debut in the city in a matter of months. “There are some big names, established restaurateurs, opening in the second quarter of next year,” he says, before refusing to divulge further details.