As the waitress takes our dinner order at our favorite outside venue, she suggests a nice bottle of red to go with our entrees. Then she pauses, takes out a separate dup pad with her pen positioned to write, looks at us, takes a deep breath and asks for our names, address and the best telephone contact number.

Yes, this is becoming the new norm in the restaurant industry. Eateries are now being asked to log patrons dining with them should an issue arise from a contagious individual for contact tracing. With a sharp up-tick in COVID-19 cases being identified daily, more Americans are being tested to help determine and help contain hot-spots and outbreaks. Winter is fast approaching and restaurants are scaling back to conform with new tightening restriction. The restaurant & hospitality industry keeps taking a beating with no help in sight. When all of this evolves to whatever the new, “after the virus … afterlife” looks like, we will see only the survivors standing.

There are many words that I am sure will be used to capture what has occurred this past year in our industry. I believe that the simple sentence "we have to pivot if we want to survive" will be etched into the food industry's bedrock. For some establishments being flexible and rolling with the punches is a must. Who would have thought just eight and half months ago we were going about our daily business without a care or a pivot plan!

It is so easy to go down that rabbit hole of terrifying possible realities and "what ifs". My wife and I have daily communication with our kids and friends near and far. We query about their trials and tribulation and always realize we are in this together. No one is unscathed. I sometimes feel like we are all part of the cast of "Groundhog Day": We keep waking up to a different version of the same day.

The small things in life bring us the most joy. Be good to yourself, cook and eat well, get outside, plant bulbs and dig in the dirt, reach out to loved ones daily. And this week, of all weeks, we all need to breathe and have lots of patience!

What are you doing to stay sane during this tumultuous time?

Live well and stay safe.

Would you like that medium rare?

Join for free* to continue reading.