The Restaurants’ Voice
COVID-19: Accounting for its Cost
November 21, 2021
Development Through Sustained Investment in Skills
November 22, 2021How do local restaurants owners feel about Malta's COVID regulations
2020 gave the entire culinary world a lot to think about. From major business shutdowns to the overhaul of home deliveries, Malta’s culinary climate had quite a tough pill to swallow. But triumphant as they were, a number of establishments used their low-time to hone in on their craft, developing new concepts and fine tuning their menus and eateries until re-opening day beckoned.
2021 gave local restaurants a huge, eye-opening peek into the realities of unsteady recruitment and the underlying issues within the hospitality industry. And, as time goes by and restaurants return to practically normal expectations, the service sector is still lagging far, far behind.
Let’s look at the reasons behind Malta’s current service staff employment crisis in the hospitality industry as a whole, breaking down the walls and taboos that many seem to tip-toe around, but let’s do this from the employee’s point of view.
Amidst all the changes and developments
in COVID-19 regulations, the hospitality
industry till today still faces a great amount of
uncertainty. Not with their ability to function
and adapt to the new normal that seemed
to present itself, but with the ever changing
guidelines that add an extra strain and sense of
responsibility on the restaurant, cafe, bistro and
bar industry. Updated COVID Regulations for
Restaurants, Snack Bars, Bars and Clubs came
into effect on October 9th 2021, stating that
restaurant owners could return to pre-COVID
service should they be willing to accept only
fully vaccinated patrons. These new standards
would require all guests of the abiding
restaurants to present a certification of full
vaccination that would be verified by restaurant
staff before entry. Children aged 12 or under
would be exempt from checks provided they’re
dining with vaccinated parents or guardians.
Furthermore, all food handlers would be required to be fully vaccinated also. Restaurant owners would also be required to provide alcohol rub dispensers throughout the restaurant, conduct temperature checks, keep a log of attending patrons and have the right to refuse entry to any guests – even if they have a valid certificate.
Looking at the situation from a holistic point of view, non-restaurant owners can see the situation from two angles. The first, standing firm to the idea that vaccination is the only way to regenerate our economy, get things going back to normal and a fair limitation on those who do not wish or cannot get vaccinated. The other point of view is that seeing as entry into supermarkets, shopping centres, cinemas, buses and other public places is generally subject to temperature check, alcohol rub and mask for unsupervised admission to a highly oversaturated area; restaurants are one of the only safe places to visit; vaccinated or not.
When entering a restaurant, post temperature, alcohol, mask and tracking checks, patrons, more often than not, sit peacefully at their assigned table, order their meal off a disposable menu, pay via contactless solutions and head off on their merry way. The possibility of a trip to the restrooms comes into play, but this is tied with mandatory wearing of masks and, to general hygiene’s standards, a thorough washing of the hands. Local restaurant owners, chefs, directors and managers shared their opinions on the matter with Horeca Magazine, allowing us to fully understand where they’re coming from and why they’re hesitant to the new regulations.
The general understanding from all interviewed restaurateurs is that the regulations suggested for the industry are outright discriminatory and will cause more future issues should restaurants choose to opt for this regulatory procedure. A secondary issue that the majority of restaurant owners explained is that, keeping in mind that most restaurants are understaffed due to the current recruitment issue in the hospitality industry, forfeiting an able server, bar person, runner or take-away packer to tend to the influx of patrons, simply to check if they hold a valid vaccine certificate is a mismanagement of staff and entirely unsustainable for the business.
Furthermore, all food handlers would be required to be fully vaccinated also. Restaurant owners would also be required to provide alcohol rub dispensers throughout the restaurant, conduct temperature checks, keep a log of attending patrons and have the right to refuse entry to any guests – even if they have a valid certificate.
Looking at the situation from a holistic point of view, non-restaurant owners can see the situation from two angles. The first, standing firm to the idea that vaccination is the only way to regenerate our economy, get things going back to normal and a fair limitation on those who do not wish or cannot get vaccinated. The other point of view is that seeing as entry into supermarkets, shopping centres, cinemas, buses and other public places is generally subject to temperature check, alcohol rub and mask for unsupervised admission to a highly oversaturated area; restaurants are one of the only safe places to visit; vaccinated or not.
When entering a restaurant, post temperature, alcohol, mask and tracking checks, patrons, more often than not, sit peacefully at their assigned table, order their meal off a disposable menu, pay via contactless solutions and head off on their merry way. The possibility of a trip to the restrooms comes into play, but this is tied with mandatory wearing of masks and, to general hygiene’s standards, a thorough washing of the hands. Local restaurant owners, chefs, directors and managers shared their opinions on the matter with Horeca Magazine, allowing us to fully understand where they’re coming from and why they’re hesitant to the new regulations.
The general understanding from all interviewed restaurateurs is that the regulations suggested for the industry are outright discriminatory and will cause more future issues should restaurants choose to opt for this regulatory procedure. A secondary issue that the majority of restaurant owners explained is that, keeping in mind that most restaurants are understaffed due to the current recruitment issue in the hospitality industry, forfeiting an able server, bar person, runner or take-away packer to tend to the influx of patrons, simply to check if they hold a valid vaccine certificate is a mismanagement of staff and entirely unsustainable for the business.
Andrea Cassar, Director
at Cargo Restaurant
commented; “Our choice
not to discriminate leaves us
with the reality of covering less tables, but we’d
rather not discriminate, since we do not see the
relevance.” The ‘relevance’ that Andrea is talking
about is in relation to the new table sizes that
the optional regulations suggest. “Seating 6 at
a table makes no difference from seating 8, the
virus travels either way, from unvaccinated to
vaccinated and vice versa. We will be accpeting
both vaccinated and unvaccinated guests at
Cargo.
“Seeing as we all congregate with families and friends, head to packed supermarkets and carry on with our daily lives, I do not see why the restaurant industry is any different. At Cargo, we have not changed our protocols, we will remain functioning with the existing restrictions
“Seeing as we all congregate with families and friends, head to packed supermarkets and carry on with our daily lives, I do not see why the restaurant industry is any different. At Cargo, we have not changed our protocols, we will remain functioning with the existing restrictions
Chef Patron at Uncle Matt’s
Kitchen, Matthew Pace,
believes that the 93% herd
immunity is the golden root
that should have allowed Malta to return to
business as usual, but unfortunately what has
taken place is a ploy where restaurants are given
the choice to discriminate against their patrons
and their staff.
“The public is making it plain and simple that they will boycott restaurants who choose such discriminatory actions. In turn, this suggestion in regulations is making restaurants turn down bookings. If a restaurant, after their long dry spell and period of uncertainty, is made to refuse a table of 6 simply because one of the guests above 12 years of age is unvaccinated, they’ve essentially lost the entire booking. This is not feasible or sustainable for restaurants anymore.
“Neither can we let staff who are unvaccinated go, the current recruitment nightmare is already leaving us under-staffed, which in turn reduces the overall customer experience within our restaurant.” Uncle Matt’s Kitchen will be accepting both vaccinated and unvaccinated patrons to their restaurants, while hoping that a glance of the future and an improvement in regulations will help to keep determined restaurants alive, as they did during the long and cruel lockdown phase.
“The public is making it plain and simple that they will boycott restaurants who choose such discriminatory actions. In turn, this suggestion in regulations is making restaurants turn down bookings. If a restaurant, after their long dry spell and period of uncertainty, is made to refuse a table of 6 simply because one of the guests above 12 years of age is unvaccinated, they’ve essentially lost the entire booking. This is not feasible or sustainable for restaurants anymore.
“Neither can we let staff who are unvaccinated go, the current recruitment nightmare is already leaving us under-staffed, which in turn reduces the overall customer experience within our restaurant.” Uncle Matt’s Kitchen will be accepting both vaccinated and unvaccinated patrons to their restaurants, while hoping that a glance of the future and an improvement in regulations will help to keep determined restaurants alive, as they did during the long and cruel lockdown phase.
Il-Bacino’s Restaurant
Manager, Norbert,
commented that he has
mixed feelings about what
would be the right choice.
It’s clear to him that the newest proposed
measures are discriminatory and that Il Bacino
will continue to serve both vaccinated and
unvaccinated patrons. Choosing to follow
the Vaccinated Only regulations will make
“customers feel that restaurants are selecting
their patrons - this is not a customer-friendly
way!
“We will accept all patrons and maintain the high regulation standards as we have done since re-opening, turning down bookings and managing staff to conduct checks would cause too much struggle for the business. We are already accepting less patrons, so we need to make sure our team and our tables are optimised at all times.”
Norbert also shared his opinions, proposing that fully vaccinated staff should be able to remove their masks and conduct their service in a friendlier and more professional manner.
“We will accept all patrons and maintain the high regulation standards as we have done since re-opening, turning down bookings and managing staff to conduct checks would cause too much struggle for the business. We are already accepting less patrons, so we need to make sure our team and our tables are optimised at all times.”
Norbert also shared his opinions, proposing that fully vaccinated staff should be able to remove their masks and conduct their service in a friendlier and more professional manner.
Chef Rafel Sammut at
Briju also commented
that in order to give the
industry the boost it needs
from the turmoil it’s just
been through, regulations should now start to
dwindle down for restaurants. “It’s about time
we went back to our pre-COVID ways and got
things back to normal”, he commented, “and
if there is need for some sort of regulation, the
current ones need to be tweaked on factors
relating to table distance and maximum table
seating.”
Chef Rafel also commented that for the time being they will be accepting both vaccinated and unvaccinated patrons at Briju, while doing their best to maximise on staff and their availability in the restaurant. “The financial benefit is still affecting restaurants. With the reduction in table sizes and covers available in smaller restaurants, the last thing we can do is restrict our employees based on vaccination. It’s a very difficult subject to approach and handle.”
Chef Rafel also commented that for the time being they will be accepting both vaccinated and unvaccinated patrons at Briju, while doing their best to maximise on staff and their availability in the restaurant. “The financial benefit is still affecting restaurants. With the reduction in table sizes and covers available in smaller restaurants, the last thing we can do is restrict our employees based on vaccination. It’s a very difficult subject to approach and handle.”
So what is the solution? From the
feedback we received, there seems to
be a general consensus that restaurants
are not at all willing to discriminate
against the patrons who support
them, and in essence keep them alive.
Restaurant owners are in a state of flux,
wondering what will change and when
their livelihood will return to normal.
With the opening of borders and the
arrival of tourists to our shores, will
Malta soon pick up where it left off,
with restaurants packed at the seams,
servers swept off their feet and patrons
happily toasting to a weekend of fine
dining, casual restaurant meals and
night caps at the local bars?
Kristina Cassar Dowling
Kristina Cassar Dowling is a journalist, blogger and writer who focuses on food culture, the arts and sustainable lifestyles - her biggest passions in life. Kristina is a freelance writer who also focuses on human stories, business and other niches.
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