Operators want to start a discussion about handling extreme weather in the future, after one reckons he lost close to two weeks’ worth of revenue.
Some of Brisbane’s best restaurants want diners to know they’re open and ready for business, after sitting mostly empty this week in the wake of the chaos caused by Cyclone Alfred.
One restaurateur described as “a bit eerie” the Fortitude Valley streets that surround her popular Italian restaurant.
The call comes after a week in which the city grappled with limited public transport and schools that were slow to reopen.
On Tuesday, trains ran to a Sunday timetable, leading to crowded carriages and platforms as commuters attempted to return to the CBD. Most schools were reopened by Wednesday but a handful remained closed at week’s end.
Short Grain is one of Brisbane’s top Thai restaurants. Chef-owner Martin Boetz said the venue had essentially lost a week of trade from the Wednesday before Alfred hit.
“We had 70 people booked [that Wednesday] and we ended up doing 15.
“But [given Alfred’s delayed arrival], we could have done a normal Wednesday night and Thursday night.
“Saturday night, we decided to open and ended up doing 80 people, before the wind and the storm started again, and we closed Sunday because no one could get to work.
“I’m glad everyone’s safe, but the aftermath of people being in recovery mode means we’ve had a week of taking very little.”
Essa chef-owner Phil Marchant said his restaurant, just off James Street, had also lost trade.
“We were down early in the week, but Wednesday was close to what we need to do,” Marchant said. “Today [Friday] lunch is dead, but the weekend is looking strong.
“The late arrival [of the cyclone] was massively frustrating. I think the riverside restaurants were mobilising to prepare to get thumped and that then put the seed into everyone’s mind. We pretty much lost everything on Thursday and Friday last week.”
Baja Modern Mexican owner Dan Quinn said his Fortitude Valley restaurant had one of its strongest Februarys ever, but Alfred would wipe out close to two weeks of solid revenue.
“It’s huge to try and get that back,” Quinn said. “They said it was going to come last Wednesday, and so it’s understandable that everything stopped, but I went from a stack of bookings to nothing.”
The days after the weather cleared have been patchy, with the restaurant’s usually popular Taco Tuesday night relatively quiet, and Wednesday quiet also, although sittings bounced back on Thursday night.
“I was talking to a friend, and he made the point that everyone spent so much on alcohol and food last week that they’re staying put for a few days,” Quinn said.
Alfred came at an inopportune time for the restaurant industry, which operates on notoriously tight margins, with March often marking an uptick in business after the traditionally quiet months of January and February.
“Brisbane: people are starting to come here as a destination, which is great, but it’s not like Sydney, which always attracts people, and Melbourne, which has the [Australian Open] and other events in January,” Boetz said.
Marchant agreed. “It definitely came at a bad time,” he said. “It extended that January and February feel, and they already felt longer this year for us.”
“It definitely came at a bad time. It extended that January and February feel, and they already felt longer this year for us.”
Essa chef and owner Phil Marchant.
Not everyone struggled. One operator said his inner Woolloongabba restaurant continued to do strong numbers while its CBD counterpart was relatively quiet. Supernormal chef Jason Barratt said business had been slow during the week but picked up on Thursday.
Boetz said his weekend, like Marchant’s, was looking busy, but restaurants could not survive on Fridays and Saturdays alone. He reckoned that if weather events like Alfred were to become more frequent, the city and its restaurant industry needed to adapt.
“I just want to have a conversation around how these things work going forward,” Boetz said. “People need to be safe but if this happens more frequently, we can’t just hide in our houses – it will only be a day or maybe 48 hours that it will be severe.”
“Maybe as these things happen more, we’re going to have to react in the moment a bit better rather than pre-empting doom,” Marchant said. “But at the same time, what do you do? You’re damned if you’re do, damned if you don’t.”
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Matt Shea is Food and Culture Editor at Brisbane Times. He is a former editor and editor-at-large at Broadsheet Brisbane, and has written for Escape, Qantas Magazine, the Guardian, Jetstar Magazine and SilverKris, among many others.
