All In A Day's Work

On any given day, back in the days of what I shall refer to as 'normalcy', this is what I do. As one can imagine, today the likelihood of being able to cater any event, large or small, is non-existent to quite possibly- not possible. Do not misunderstand, with restrictions lessened a wee tad as of late, we are free to do so up to a maximum of 50 people. As long as all protocols are in place we are more than willing to get right back into the thick of things.

Yet fear has reared its ugly head and no one is booking anything. There are a few events in the near future yet nothing of the magnitude of days gone by. Days where we would have so many events booked we certainly had stretched ourselves very fine in the, 'can we pull this off' department. Do we have enough staff? Are all the vehicles in gassed up and ready to go? Has all the food been ordered? Do we have enough cooks and kitchen space in the appropriate locations to manage all 10 or 6 or 9 events scheduled for the day? The list really is endless.

A wedding here and a Celebration of Life there, a staff party at another location, throw in a couple of separate BBQ's at two different golf courses, then there's the occasional pig roast just for kicks. Breakfast for 100, and soup for 75, a couple of coffee services and that would be a typical day. Not to mention the daily services we cater a t a few of the government offices around this fair city...we do keep ourselves very busy. Or we used too.

At present we are reduced to boxed lunches through a take out window. To make matters worse, the one contract that remained out of the airport in Sidney, BC- because of a helicopter crash overseas some weeks ago, even that was put on hold as all have since been grounded until an investigation is completed into the safety of said helicopters. It's not simply the virus that's thrown a wrench in our operations.

The question now is when can the business return to normal. We have taken all the necessary precautions needed for social distancing with only so many to a table and proper spacing between tables. Then the plexiglass shielding for banquet tables, self serve buffets all but eliminated as we will serve each individual. Even the chef carving will be behind plexiglass, although I'm still not quite sure how that's going to work as we haven't been able to find out yet without a party booked. Masks and face shields will become our new normal. We even have partitions to go into the kitchens for the appropriate social distancing between our kitchen staff. All for the good of those we serve and the staff alike.

It will be interesting to put into play for sure. The biggest drawback will be the 50 person maximum until a vaccine is found. Here is where the good business sense now comes into play. With this limit there is no room for error in order for this to be profitable enough to remain open. Yet without re-opening the same outcome is omnipresent. No 'business' means no 'business', period.

At the best of times, the catering industry is a tough gig. Right now and into the foreseeable future it has become non-existent. The restaurant industry is now seeing bankruptcies beginning to unfold of some longstanding businesses and establishments. I would really hate to see this part of the industry go the same route simply because we cannot be close to each other for all practical purposes at the moment. That fear stills looms heavily on everyone's minds. I pray that things can return to some sense of civility sooner rather than later. Have we gone too extreme with the measures in place? There really is no way to know for sure.

I am a chef and this is not my business, I simply work for the owner. At present I am employed more than I would like to be working in long term care homes. I have been lucky in this respect. My second job becoming my full time job in the interim. My boss here, not so much. This is the work we both aspire too yet being indefinitely on hold, who knows what is really in the cards as to our future in catering?

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