Executive Briefing
How our favorite restaurants are improvising as they wait for a Covid-19 lifeline
This won’t work for long. But the rush of creativity is inspiring.
By Dan Frommer on Thursday, March 19, 2020 at 12:45 pm
The restaurant industry is collapsing in front of us, as the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic has forced many to close their dining rooms, and as “social distancing” becomes our way of life for the next several weeks or months.
Yesterday, Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group laid off 2,000 employees — 80% of its workforce — “due to a near-complete elimination of revenue,” showing that even the most successful, best-run restaurant groups are confronting a unique existential threat.
While most businesses in any category are now extremely vulnerable, the restaurant industry is particularly at risk — a microcosm of America, where most live hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck, in a just-in-time economy.
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