Nora Grace-Flood Photo
Eammon Ryan, second from left, with crew on opening day.
Eamonn Ryan was ready to start serving customers at The Playwright Irish Pub the moment the governor gave the green light — and five cooped-up Southern Connecticut State University students were ready to order.
Ryan, who manages The Playwright at Whitney and Putnam in Hamden, began serving customers right at lunch on Wednesday as Gov. Ned Lamont’s “Phase One” of the Covid-19 pandemic reopening allowed for outdoor sit-down dining.
Ryan said he had lost “90 to 95 percent” of his business and had to lay off his bartenders and wait staff during the shutdown. So in advance of Wednesday, he put a fresh coat of paint on the beloved pub’s well-worn walls, stripped and shined the floors, and had the patios ready.
Sure enough, mid-afternoon on the back patio, five SCSU students huddled shoulder to shoulder at a table nursing beers and scanning the menu. (They declined to be named or photographed.) They said they were eager to “support local business.” And after months of bingeing on Netflix at home — except for one of their members, who works at Amazon — they said they felt liberated to grab a meal together again in public.
Not that their parents would necessarily approve.
Asked if she told them that she was joining her friends at a pub, one woman looked down at her menu. “Absolutely not!” she replied.
Another said he told his aunt he was “just going for a drive” before heading out to lunch.
1 Closed For Good; 1 Reopened
The same mix of eagerness and ambivalence could be found outside Freskos, a Greek restaurant on Whitney.
Chris Marcucio, the director of operations, had set up blue outdoor tables to supplement takeout and delivery. Some sit-down patrons came for lunch; more were expected at dinner.
During the lull in between, he spoke of how he had spent the past two months cooking, cleaning, and keeping the feta cheese-stocked ship from sinking with little support. Down to a “skeleton crew,” Freskos had to close down their New Haven outpost for good.
So he believed the Hamden restaurant needed to reopen now — but also mentioned that if he were in the government’s shoes, he would have waited until at least late June to allow restaurants like his from serving sit-down meals, even outside.
“Do I think it’s the right decision?” Chris asked concerning the government’s new guidelines on partially reopening businesses. “No.” But he had his own business decisions to make as well.
Live-Streamed — & Live
No such ambivalence was on display at Hamden’s Cafe Amici, which was serving its first sit-down customers in months at dinner.
Co-owner Stephen Barraco said the community helped Cafe Amici weather the shutdown by ordering take-out. He got ready to reopen outdoor dining as soon as he could because, he said, “there are bills to pay.”
By 5 p.m., three tables, more than six feet apart, were occupied by two people each. Lead vocalist Joe LaDore of the musical group Mean Cajon set equipment up by the front doors to prepare for an “acoustic happy hour.”
This was a welcome opportunity for the musicians, as well. Balancing his guitar on his knee and setting up video on his computer, Joe explained he has been live streaming at home concerts on Facebook throughout the pandemic, many in partnership with small businesses. Which gave him an idea: He planned to also livestream this performance in order to drive more business over to the Italian restaurant.
When the time came for a photo, Joe asked “with or without the mask?”
He and his bandmate chose to show teeth.
At one table sat graphic designer Katie Hudnall, whose wife has known one of the owners since college and is a chef herself, currently working with the food service company Compass Group.
Across the dining area sat Ellisha Sumarna, a model and dancer based in LA who decided to visit a friend in Connecticut during a global pandemic. They were eating at Amici because they “thought a night out would be fun.”
In the corner, an older couple named Tim and Cathy conversed over drinks. They are Amici regulars, eating at the restaurant on a weekly basis during normal circumstances; they love all of the specials, especially tapas.
Tim spoke about the importance of supporting local businesses. Cathy looked up from her purple drink and offered her take on the reopening: “let people make their own choices.”
I generally think the reopening plan makes sense. But if unrelated restaurant customers "huddle shoulder to shoulder" there is going to a rebound in cases. (I assume the Southern students aren't all roommates.)