EASTERN ONTARIO: Rural restaurants hang on when they own the building, have community support

METCALFE — Local restaurants have been a mainstay of the farming community as places for farmers to gather and groan about grain prices and governments over hearty breakfasts and bottomless coffees.
But the restaurant industry has been pounded by COVID-19 lockdowns. As many as 60 per cent of restaurants could close by November, according to a Statistics Canada survey of the industry. Twenty-five per cent of restaurants have already closed, though not necessarily permanently, according to an estimate from Dalhousie University director of the agri-food analytics lab Sylvain Charlebois. With COVID-19 hotspots popping up and Premier Doug Ford announcing last month a rollback in some restrictions for Ottawa, Peel Region and Toronto, there was some anxiety about the fall forecast.
Rural restaurants, however, are proving remarkably resilient. Farmers Forum spoke with five restaurateurs, none of whom expect to close their doors permanently. Owning the building helps. So does remarkable support from the community.
One new restaurant, in fact, opened because of the pandemic. The Stable at Metcalfe, south of urban Ottawa, opened July 31, after the COVID lockdown forced the Metcalfe Fare to close in the spring in the same building, said owner Jamie Clarmo, who owns the auto repair shop on the same lot and rented the second building to the Metcalfe Fare. After it closed, restaurant staff, including breakfast cook Shari Gilders, approached Clarmo about re-opening. There wasn’t a restaurant in town anymore, they told him. Mike’s Restaurant closed down a few years ago and the Main St. Bar and Grill burnt to the ground in the spring.
Re-opening turned out to be a popular idea. He built a patio on the side and there were 38 people soaking in the rays and another 32 inside over one weekend last month for breakfast, with more lined up outside, Clarmo said. It was about as jammed as it could be while still following the rules.
If further restrictions or a full-on lockdown come back, it’ll hurt, no doubt. But Clarmo has no intentions of letting it go and it wouldn’t be the first time he’s had to support both buildings on one income. “I’m not about to give up if all we’re allowed to do is takeout and delivery. We’ll do our best to keep people employed and working and make enough to pay the mortgage and taxes.”
North Gower’s Marlborough Pub at North Gower made it through the lockdowns by being creative. Co-owners Jason Moore and Steve Moffatt, introduced home delivery, then transformed itself into a quasi-grocery store. “Flour, sugar, eggs, bacon, milk. All that stuff. You could call us and we’d put orders together.” Other innovations swiftly followed: an employee that used to have his own pizza parlour came up with the idea for pizza kits; they also started offering cocktail kits, particularly for the more unusual bar items like Sangria; and once patios got the greenlight, the Marlborough jumped on that too. They’re back to having 24 employees (they had 32 pre-COVID) and Moore was confident that based on how strong community support was during the early days of the pandemic that they’d survive another shutdown.
There have, of course, already been casualties, such as St. James Gate in Carleton Place. But Thruway, a hub for farmers and truckers alike, was expecting to pull through. The three Katsoulis brothers run the place that has been in the family since 1977, Billy Katsoulis said, adding that while things are not back to normal, they’re at least stable. The local community “really stepped up and supported us and other restaurants in town” and that’s made all the difference, he said. As long as it keeps up, he figured the restaurant could hang on through come what may. “We’re pretty stubborn and we own the building. We’re just going to work it as much as we can.”
Other restaurants closed down and re-opened. Royal’s Restaurant in Richmond, co-owned by Derek Fisher and Nick Mamalis, shut down when the lockdowns hit and was planning to re-open Oct. 17. Meantime, they only do catering.
Inasmuch as the pandemic and lockdowns have been frightful they’ve provided an opportunity for the restaurant to re-evaluate its niche, Mamalis said. They’re planning to introduce ready-to-go meals to avoid clogging up the former bustling interior. They’ve also bought a smoker to new menu items. Plenty of other restaurants have been innovative, so Mamalis said they want to hit the ground running and even be ahead of the pack.