“Nothing compares to this. It’s not comparable to the dot-com bust and it is not comparable to the huge financial crisis of 2008 … [It] is unparalleled to any other kind of catastrophe that you can mitigate or survive from,” Gayle Pirie, chef-owner of Foreign Cinema, said as she looks back to the last eight months.

By now we’ve heard numerous accounts from restaurant professionals who have struggled to run their business in 2020, but in checking with chefs and owners of some of SF’s most loved restaurants, we found out how dire things have really been.

After 21 years at Foreign Cinema, Pirie reflects on the time that she’s operated her restaurant, and believes that running it during the pandemic has been unlike anything before.

“We’re not new to challenges because in 21 years there’s been plenty of things to try and overcome [but] this one is quite different,” she said. 
 
Pirie shared that with past hardships, dining eventually came back despite any financial strain that carried over. But the unpredictability of COVID-19 and keeping a virus at bay is a whole new challenge.

Recent spikes in San Francisco’s coronavirus cases led to Mayor London Breed announcing on Tuesday that the county would put a halt to indoor dining by Nov. 14. The city had just recently restored indoor dining on Sept. 30 to 25% capacity.

Matthew Accarrino, executive chef at SPQR, agrees that past events haven’t really compared to operating a restaurant amid a pandemic. In his 20-years of culinary experience, he’s never seen anything quite like this — a health concern affecting business.

“That’s where a lot of these pivots became more immediate,” Accarrino said.

SPQR rebranded to Accarrino’s in March to offer less technical and more budget-friendly takeout options. Accarrino knew early on that the dishes served at SPQR pre-pandemic wouldn’t make sense after March, so his team adapted quickly. And since then, Accarrino’s has done pretty well, all things considered. Though Accarrino admits that restaurant sales are still less than before, even with the return of outdoor dining and reduced indoor dining.

“Restaurants are nowhere near parity with the kind of business model we had before,” Accarrino said. “I have half my staff that I used to, and sales are probably not even half. I would venture to guess that no one in the restaurant business is making money.”

Things got difficult at John’s Grill after the San Francisco institution closed for five months while it figured out a reopening plan. John Konstin Jr., co-owner of John’s Grill, shares that it was the first time in the restaurant’s 112-year-old history that a single event forced the business into a prolonged closure.

“I had never seen the restaurant closed for that long in my life and I’ve been working at John’s Grill since I was 13,” said the third-generation family business owner. “I just remember my dad looking at me saying, ‘Oh my goodness, if only your grandfather was alive.’ It shook our whole family.”

The closure meant that many staff members at John’s Grill would part ways or need to be let go, which was one of the toughest things Konstin’s had to do in his professional career, he said.

“One of the hardest things for me [was seeing] my extended family at John’s Grill suffering through those five months,” Konstin said and after a brief pause added, “Sorry, it gets me a little choked up. I’m not going to lie. It’s been tough.”

John’s Grill did eventually reopen once it could set up its own parklet for outdoor dining. A lack of city conventions and less tourism have slowed foot traffic at John’s Grill, but one way Konstin has tried to offset that is by hosting weekly fashion shows with local designers. He said that the past two shows sold out.

The return of outdoor and indoor dining last month gave restaurateurs a sense of normalcy as they began to see more customers slowly come back. Accarrino said that recently, he’s had more requests for indoor and private dining.

Pirie said that she wanted to take her time to reopen Foreign Cinema to make sure the staff was trained and that COVID-19 protocols were in place. The restaurant gradually opened in May for takeout and then welcomed guests back for limited outdoor dining in late June.

“Those early takeout days really helped us get [back] to be an open restaurant because you get rusty,” Pirie said. “It’s very difficult when your restaurant closes down. It’s just psychologically big. My heart goes out to chefs who are still waiting to open.”

One of the things Pirie feels fortunate about is having Foreign Cinema’s large patio, which it’s most famously known for, especially at a time when customers have needed it most. Pirie said that her restaurant recently hosted a small, intimate wedding for a couple who had their plans canceled several times.

“It was a blessing to help them and they’re so grateful,” Pirie said. “That’s what restaurants do for people. They provide a service that is a memory that will never go away … You’re building a family sensibility [for customers that] come here and have these special events.”

For the most part, the pandemic has brought a sense of creativity and fostered unions throughout the city. For instance, Konstin said that the weekly fashion shows have helped John’s Grill and the local arts industry in a way that might have never been before the pandemic. Similarly, Accarrino said that he’s been checking in on neighboring businesses and said that he’s partnered up with Roam Burger to do an Accarrino’s-inspired menu item that will benefit a charity after Thanksgiving.

“As business owners, we’ve all been sort of looking at each other like, ‘How are you doing?’ It’s definitely fostered even greater community spirit amongst a lot of people because we’re all sort of in this together,” Accarrino said.

And despite the challenges, Pirie said that what’s kept her going is her hardworking staff and customers who she says have been thrilled to come back to Foreign Cinema.

“When we first [re]opened, [customers said], ‘Hey, we were here on your last night and this was our first restaurant experience we wanted.’ You’ve got people waiting to come out and eat with you. So those stories keep you going and you know, making people feel good and safe [shows] that there is a light at the end of this tunnel.”