Aside from the health risks posed by COVID-19 for those inflicted with the virus, a consequence which affects almost everyone is the economic consequences of the pandemic. Whether you were furloughed during the shutdown and lost your means to earn a living or faced food and product shortages either due to hoarding or simply because producers were handcuffed by the shutdown or whether your favorite retail outlets weren’t deemed essential and also had to sit on the sidelines for weeks, the economic consequences have been pronounced. And though the most severe consequences are the loss of life and loss of job, as a food and wine writer, I’ll focus on the impacts in the food and beverage industry.
Like Like Drive Inn Restaurant
Started by James and Alice Nako in 1953 then passed to
daughter Dora and son-in-law Roy Hayashi, Like Like Drive Inn Restaurant was a
mainstay partly due their homestyle local food and partly due to their non-stop
hours. A generation ago when I frequented discos such as Rumours, Steel Wings
and La Mancha which was about a block away from Like Like, we often made that
last pit stop at Like Like before heading home for a bowl of saimin and
French fries to sop up those adult beverages consumed during the night. And the
staff was constant and very friendly.
Like Like announced that they would be shutting their doors in accordance with the island-wide shut down on April 1st but later announced that the shuttering would be permanent at the end of the month. And because restaurants still weren’t allowed to open in April, regular patrons never got the chance say goodbye or indulge in that last meal.
Ahi Assassins
What started as roadside sales of freshly caught fish by Joshua Schade and Erika Luna, the couple eventually opened a brick-and-mortar location in 2013 in the heart of Mo’ili’ili. Featuring locally, line caught fish, they offered the usual array of poke along with hot, plate lunch favorites like kalua pig and garlic shrimp. They also routinely were voted as one of the top five poke establishments by Frolic Hawaii readers and were regular participants in the annual Honolulu PokeFest but with the economic slowdown after COVID-19, announced that their last poke bowl would be served on June 14th.
Terry’s Place aka HASR Bistro
Owner Terry Kakazu initially opened the HASR Wine Co almost 15 years ago after previously running Terry’s Place, a karaoke and live music bar in the Chinatown Cultural Plaza for several years. HASR Wine Co featured boutique California wines and hosted twice weekly wine tastings at the back of the wine shop. She then ventured into the restaurant business opening HASR Bistro adjacent to the wine shop several years ago and recently re-branded the restaurant as Terry’s Place named after her original karaoke and music bar. However, once COVID-19 appeared, she closed both the restaurant and wine shop during the county shutdown electing not to do take-out hoping that the shutdown wouldn’t be prolonged. When she realized that it would continue longer than anticipated, she started serving bento and Waffle Hot Dogs (she’s using the original waffle machines used by the Asato family at KC Drive Inn) to allow a re-opening of HASR Wine Co. Even with the re-opening of many businesses, she realized back-to-normal would take quite a while, so she decided close Terry’s Place for good.
REAL gastropub and Bent Tail Brewing Company
As I was writing this column, I occasionally would view my Facebook feeds and saw the announcement that REAL would not be re-opening about 10 minutes after their “End of an Era” was posted. The husband and wife team of Troy Terorotua and Lisa Kim opened REAL gastropub in 2012 in the Ward Farmer’s Market which we visited on multiple occasions but when the building was demolished to make room for another Kaka’ako condo, it took another year and a half before REAL opened its new location complete with their Bent Tail Brewing Company microbrewery. We enjoyed their Happy Hour at the original location which started earlier than most at 2pm (hey, it’s always 5pm somewhere in the world) along with their poutine or gravy and cheese curd covered French fries and the Irish Car Bomb, a dessert with a chocolate stout brownie, Guinness gelato, Bailey’s Irish Cream anglaise and Jameson’s whisky caramel. And I am sad to admit that we never visited the new location which was open for just a little over a year. As their final post ends, “Until our Next Beer” …
A Rough Reality
During the COVID-19 crisis, local celebrity chef Alan
Wong stated that even during the best of times, most restaurants average about
a 5% profit margin, some more though for a lot, a little less. And this is
during regular operations. With the guidelines that accompanied lifting the
in-house dining on June 5th, restaurant can only seat 50% of their
usual capacity – if you ask any restauranteur pre COVID-19 if they would be
satisfied just turning half of their tables, they probably would recommend not
getting into the business with just 50% capacity. Now add on the extra cost of
disinfectants, additional take-out containers to make up the in-dining losses
and you see why some establishments simply decided to throw in the towel. And
the restaurant list will probably expand by the time you read this column.
And even take-out doesn’t cut it. Transplanted celebrity chef Lee Anne Wong of Koko Head Café originally offered take-out as the County’s closure orders were implemented but stopped after a couple of weeks as she stated her cost was about $2500 per day but her revenue was only $1500 per day and the $1000 daily loss was better served paying for health insurance for furloughed employees. Saving those daily losses also positioned her for the long run once inhouse dining was allowed.
How Can you Help?
As I’ve mentioned in previous columns, if you have a favorite restaurant that’s still doing take-out, patronize them. We’ve been doing take-out at least twice a week and have continued even as the inhouse dining ban was lifted. As we see it, no extra labor is required to disinfect a table and if the establishment is already continuing take-out, those take-out containers are already a cost on the books. And we also order wine or beer to go to help the restaurant get additional cash flow. Regular take-out may not be so great for the waistline, but I would hate to read another article that Vino or Fete or 12th Ave Grill is on the bubble or has decided to shutter for good.
Vino Italian Tapas and Wine Bar
Because they are offering dishes from Sansei which remains closed, we usually order Vino’s Crispy Brussel Sprouts and Crispy Cauliflower ($11.95 each) and whatever special Chef Endo has for the weekend. We also love Sansei’s Chirashi Sashimi ($19.95) and Sakura Platter ($48.00), 30 pieces of mixed nigiri and rolled sushi. And Vino’s 2016 Abbatucci Valle Nero Rose ($46) is the best rose I’ve sampled all year.
Fete
The Beef Cheek Rigatoni ($23 individual or $99 family pack) and Niihau Lamb Sausage Cavatelli ($25) are both great pastas while the Ludovico Twice Fried Chicken with spicy tomato jam ($28) stays crisp even on the drive home. And sample the Fete 75 cocktail – enough for 5 cocktails with gin, elderflower liqueur and a whole bottle of Prosecco ($41).
12th Ave Grill
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