‘We have to keep fi ghting because there’s no other option’:
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
Cantina 33, a brand-new Peruvian
restaurant at 55-33 Myrtle
Ave. in Ridgewood, was only
open for two months before it
had to temporarily close due to
New York state’s stay-at-home
order.
“I honestly thought it was
going to last like two weeks,”
said Chef Kevin Lenis, owner
of Cantina 33. “I didn’t think it
would be this long. But it’s been
two months, and I had to make
changes because, at the end of
the day, I still have rent to pay.”
Lenis wanted to wait until it
was safe to open back up to inside
dining, as he felt his food —
beautifully crafted, traditional
Peruvian dishes with a modern
twist — was meant to be
enjoyed inside the vibrant and
sleek ambiance he created.
But as time went on, the
28-year-old business owner
from Jackson Heights realized
there was no specific end date
in sight. He also thought about
his team of about 15 people, who
wanted to come back to work.
So on May 15, he began offering
deliveries and adjusted the
menu by adding more options,
including Peruvian sandwiches
inspired by his go-to, afterwork
snack he used to get from
a small food truck in Peru. As
New York’s COVID-19 numbers
decrease and the city and state
begins to reopen, Lenis isn’t
sure that some of the restrictions
that have been mentioned
would allow his restaurant,
with 42 seats, to not only survive,
but also thrive.
“I don’t know if all restaurants
will be able to bounce
back from this,” Lenis said.
“Yes, you need profit … but we
put a lot of passion and love into
what we do. And that’s what
pushes us to keep going every
day.”
Like Cantina 33, restaurants
and bars across the city
struggled to figure out what to
do once Gov. Andrew Cuomo
passed the stay-at-home executive
order in March. Many settled
for delivery and takeout;
some temporarily closed; and
others have shut their doors
permanently. But as stay-athome
orders continued to get
extended for two more weeks
— which became a month, then
two months — independent restaurants
and bar owners began
to fear for their businesses’ survival.
Back in March, Queens
Chamber of Commerce President
and CEO Tom Grech said
“at least 50 percent of restaurants”
that closed in Queens due
to the pandemic probably won’t
reopen. “That’s a terrible thing
for livelihood … terrible thing
for Queens,” he said during a
virtual town hall. Even now,
restaurant and bar owners are
taking it day by day, uncertain
of their future. But more and
more are speaking out and calling
for officials to come up with
a concrete plan with guidelines
that will let them reopen sooner
rather than later — or allow
them to do it themselves.
Planning ahead
A few weeks ago, Mayor Bill
de Blasio mentioned limiting
capacity inside restaurants and
bars. Roseann McSorley, the coowner
of Katch Astoria, a popular
gastropub at 31-19 Newtown
Ave. that reopened for takeout
and curbside margarita pickups
in May, said limiting their
capacity won’t help.
“We’ve told Senator Michael
Gianaris and a lot of our
local politicians that 30 percent
is not going to help us open. We
need at least 50 percent occupancy,”
McSorley said, adding
TIMESLEDGER | 2 QNS.COM | JUNE 12-18, 2020
that Katch has 150 seats. “If
you tell me that I can only get
30 percent, that’s a very small
number and we’ll never be able
to make it.”
She added that capacity limits
may also affect how many
people she’ll be able to employ
(she had about 40 staff members,
most of whom are collecting
unemployment). And as major
sports prepare to come back,
McSorley said people will want
to watch them at places like
Katch, where they pay thousands
of dollars a month for
cable. McSorley already came
up with a guide to reopen.
They’re going to take temperatures
of both staff and
customers, who will all need
to use face masks; have dining
tables six feet apart separated
by plexiglass; give customers
Ziploc bags to store their
masks when they’re eating and
drinking; use a phone app so
they won’t need to use physical
menus; and have a cleaning
company do a deep clean once a
week while they disinfect every
day. McSorley runs Senator Gianaris’
western Queens business
committee, and said businesses
in the community are looking
to buy supplies like masks,
face shields, hand sanitizer
and gloves in bulk to distribute
among each other.
“We don’t see each other as
competition anymore. We’re all
affected by the same things,”
she said.
James O’Reilly, owner of
Yerman’s Irish Pub at 7026 88th
St. in Glendale, took to Facebook
on May 28 to showcase his
opening model.
“It looks like they have no
guidelines or model for places
to maximize customers,”
O’Reilly said in the video. “Well
I came up with a model, call
this O’Reilly’s Law.”
O’Reilly showed off the adjustable
separators made of
wood and plastic glass that they
created to place in between customers
at the bar, with Marine
plastic placed in front of the
bar. He also has mobile separators
to put in between booths.
His restaurant has almost
300 seats, which he said allows
him to safely use the inside.
O’Reilly, a 59-year-old Irish immigrant,
has been in the restaurant
business in Queens for
almost 20 years.
His staff of 10, including
his two daughters and in-laws,
say they want to go back to
work. He said they’ve all had
antibody tests that came back
positive, so they’re not worried
about contracting the virus, if
the antibodies suggest they already
had it.
“You can go to Home Depot,
Walmart, BJ’s … where people
are standing shoulder to shoulder,
and we can’t open?” he told
QNS. “It’s unfair.”
Reopening carefully
Even so, restaurant owners
want to be careful about how
and when they reopen. The
Lowery Bar and Kitchen at 43-
02 43rd Ave. in Sunnyside came
back for pickup after receiving
calls from community members
who missed them.
Anne Muldoon, an Irish immigrant
who opened up the restaurant
about four years ago,
said that after deep cleaning
the restaurant, she decided to
reopen at the end of April with
a smaller menu.
“We have a lot of love for
this neighborhood,” Muldoon
said. “It’s not really about making
lots of money or making a
profit right now. It’s about survival,
and about putting food on
my staff’s tables.”
Muldoon is deeply mindful
of cleanliness and social distance
precautions. She said her
staff is bleaching her sidewalks
every night, windows are
cleaned, and her cooks wear
masks and gloves that they
change periodically.
Loycent Gordon, the owner
of Neir’s Tavern, decided to
temporarily close the 191-yearold
restaurant almost two
months ago in order to keep his
staff safe. To stay connected
with Neir’s loyal patrons, Gordon
has hosted several virtual
happy hours. But he isn’t quite
sure when they’ll reopen.
“It’s multi-faceted,” Gordon
said, noting that one of his concerns
is dealing with liability
issues, like if a customer says
they got sick at their restaurant.
The Center for Disease Control
and Prevention has provided
guidelines for restaurants
to consider, delineating low- to
high-risk establishments, promoting
behaviors to reduce the
spread of COVID-19 and maintaining
healthy environments.
Where aid has come up short
Gordon managed to receive
the federal government’s PPP
loan, which can be forgiven if
Cantina 33, a Peruvian restaurant in Ridgewood, reopened in May after temporarily closing due to the
COVID-19 health crisis. Photo by Angélica Acevedo
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