Coronavirus In Philadelphia: Spice Finch Owner Jen Carroll Concerned When Restaurants Will Reopen Because 'So Many Unknowns Right Now'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Many businesses are suffering as the region deals with this new reality during the coronavirus outbreak. CBS3 reporter Janelle Burrell spoke to Jen Carroll about her first-hand experience during this difficult time.
She's one of the stars of Bravo's Top Chef All-Stars and also the owner of Philadelphia's Spice Finch.
Q: The last few weeks have been devastating for the restaurant industry, what is most concerning for you right now?
The most concerning thing for me, and I think many of my fellow restauranteurs, is, are we going to be able to reopen because there are so many unknowns right now? It's indefinite when quarantine is going to be over and when it is over, are we going to have the money to buy our inventory to get reopened, carry our payroll again, are we going to get the small business loan that are out there that were passed with the Care Act? Too many unknowns right now. How long is this going to last being the biggest one, because rent is still looming over us and all of the fix costs are still there.
Q: A lot of restaurants were forced to switch gears and have takeout or delivery options, but for some of them it just isn't viable.
It is not. My restaurant Spice Finch is a 170-seat restaurant and to do a couple of takeout orders and turn everything on, it's just not worth it. We're not even really breaking even with the few takeout orders we did. We did takeout, we tried it for two days and just got rid of most of our perishable stuff and gave the rest to all of our team members because we actually thought it was better in their hands than trying to continue to go on. And the safety of our team members also came into play. We didn't want to danger any of them with how deadly this virus is.
Watch the video above for the full interview with Spice Finch Owner Jen Carroll.
