Courtesy Log Jam Restaurant
BY SUSAN E. CAMPBELL
Restaurants in and around the North Country are handling the challenges of the coronavirus crisis with a sense of family, social responsibility, and grace as they continue to adjust to a different way of serving their customers and rethink what “business as usual” means to them.
The option for restaurants is making take-out available for curbside pickup, or delivering. Some restaurants who were previously not involved in either practice are implementing them to stay afloat.
New York state’s restaurant industry is among the most impacted, losing $1.9 billion and more than 250,000 jobs, according to a recent report by the National Restaurant Association.
“Many restaurants have already closed and will never reopen, and restaurant employees are out of work, trying to figure out what’s next,” association President and CEO Melissa Fleischut said.
Locally, there is still restaurant activity.
The state mandate went into effect so abruptly that Tony Grecco, general manager at the The Log Jam Restaurant, said he was “shocked.”
“I knew it would happen, but not all of a sudden,” said Grecco, who has been with The Log Jam on Route 9 in Lake George for 30 years. “One weekend we are doing business and then Monday morning it was announced that we would be closing at 8 that evening.”
Grecco’s first concern, he said, was his employees and how they would survive. He has a staff of 90, full-time and part-time, and on a busy Saturday as many as 50 are on site. A core crew has been with him ever since the shutdown, including four in the kitchen.
“Thankfully, with unemployment compensation, most are able to cope and pay their bills,” he said. “There are other provisions as well, such as the ability to postpone mortgage payments.”
The Log Jam wasn’t geared to take-out service, being too involved with hundreds of guests to accommodate to-go orders, he said.
Upon closing, Grecco had to find recipients for volumes of fresh food, selling fish and meats to employees at cost and donating meals to the hospital and nursing homes, he said.
“We are doing our part for our own peace of mind,” said Grecco. “The community is very supportive.”
The first week of take-out service was slow, “but the staff not only wanted to do it, they suggested we do delivery too,” he said. The Log Jam trimmed the number of entrees and appetizers and began preparing just one fresh vegetable side a day “to keep it simple and reduce waste,” Grecco said.
“We have combined the lunch and dinner menu to 20-25 items including four sandwiches, down from 16,” he said. Beer, wine and cocktails are available for take-out as well.
“A month in, we have made some changes and adjustments, but we are happy with the decision,” he said. “We are keeping The Log Jam going and getting the name out there.”
Further down Route 9 in Wilton, Chez Pierre Restaurant is also meeting the challenges of adjusting their kitchen and staff to a new way of serving customers.
“We are not known for putting our food in a box or a bag and running it to someone’s car,” said Pia Baldwin Field, who runs the family-owned restaurant with her husband, head chef Lincoln Field. “But when we knew what was coming our way, we asked ourselves some what-ifs. Such as, what if the staff cannot survive without the gratuities they normally rely on.
“Some of our staff have other jobs, such as schoolteacher, factory worker, and construction worker,” she said. “They told us, give the work to the others.”
The reduced staff was willing to do take-out, which Chez Pierre has done before but not on a large scale, Field said.
The biggest challenge is the fast pace of take-out, Field said.
“When you’re sitting down enjoying a cocktail and ordering an appetizer, you don’t think twice about waiting an hour for your entree,” she said. “American people have gotten used to eating out and now many are getting tired of cooking, but may also expect their dinner to be ready sooner than we are accustomed to.”
But, she says, “the community wants small businesses to survive. It’s heartwarming.”
As a service to the community at large, the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce has a link on its website posting which restaurants are open for take-out or delivery, their times, locations, and contact information.
“During the last week of March we began reaching out to all of our restaurant members to gather this information and update it daily,“ said CEO Michael Bittel. “We are also partnering with Warren County Tourism so that the ‘Open For Business’ link includes restaurants that are not members of ARCC.”
Commenting on food distribution, Bittel said there have been issues for some time.
“The farmers are growing food and there is still milk and butter, but there are processing issues affecting distribution, such as manning the facilities,” he said.
Bittel said there was already a shortage in warehousing, trucking and shipping positions for the past 10 years in the North Country, but the problem has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
ARCC serves Warren, Washington, and northern Saratoga counties. As part of the outreach, Bittel and his associates are also connecting with hotels and nonprofit organizations throughout the region.