In the economic wake of the novel coronavirus, few things have been more emotional — a roller coaster of concern, inspiration, and worry — than watching friends who own, manage, or work in restaurants struggle and pivot and improvise and roll with the punches in their fight to keep the kitchen fires burning. Sad to say, as we face colder weather and the inevitable migration from outdoor dining back indoors, there is no epidemiological consensus on how to keep customers and staff safe.
It is a difficult truth to face: The tiny particles that carry Covid-19 appear to be transmitted most readily via exhalations, and enclosed spaces like a restaurant dining room — where patrons must uncover their mouths to eat, often raise their voices to be heard, and generally linger well beyond a few minutes — are exactly the sort of setting that spells trouble.
Over the summer, we had a foretaste of what may be to come, when several Covid-19 clusters cropped up among kitchen workers and waitstaff at restaurants in East Hampton Village and Montauk. Cooks and dishwashers often work in enclosed areas with inadequate ventilation. Front-of-house workers interact closely with the public, and with diners who have removed their masks. And because much of the heavy lifting in restaurant kitchens is by members of various immigrant communities, some of whom live in multigenerational households, there is a social justice issue here, as well. It seems profoundly unfair that well-off Hamptons residents intent on dining out might be putting this class of worker at increased risk. Indeed, this may already be happening: On eastern Long Island, the areas with the greatest proportion of low-wage workers — including many in hospitality industries — also have the highest rates of infection.
Our hearts are with all those who earn their living in restaurants, but until the threat is past, we will be supporting them this winter by getting takeout, which doesn’t fully abate the dangers of working at close quarters, but greatly reduces the number of people sharing the air. The safety of hospitality workers must be the top priority here and across our region.