Workshop Eatery Reopens Dining Room and Patio

WORDS BY ERIN SLOBODIAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY CURTIS COMEAU

The chef and crew over at Workshop Eatery sure have a lot of moxy. They’ve managed to pave the way for many restaurateurs to hang onto more of their revenue during the several weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown. They completely changed the way they operate all of their restaurants in response to the pandemic and now they’re opening a brand new restaurant, even as their customer base remains uncertain. 2020 has been a hard

year for many people and businesses but somehow Workshop Eatery owner and chef Paul Shufelt and team continue to lead the way.

Shortly after the COVID-19 lockdown began, Shufelt posted a video to social media encouraging consumers to order directly

from restaurants for delivery or pick-up. He pointed out that third-party delivery services like Skip The Dishes, Uber Eats, and DoorDash take around 30% of the bill customers pay to the restaurants. With delivery and takeout accounting for 100% of restaurant sales during the lockdown, Shufelt felt a third of sales was unsustainable to pay for delivery services. The video went viral. Shufelt said the owners of other restaurants have

told him their sales doubled after the video was posted. “It kind of snowballed,” he said in an interview with Modern Luxuria Magazine. “I guess it did impact not just us but others in the community.”

Workshop Eatery is a fine-dining restaurant where guests can order three or four course meals and bottles of wine or

snifters of scotch. When lockdown hit, the owners knew that they’d have to rethink the entire concept in order to keep the business afloat so they temporarily rebranded it as Woodshed South, a spin-off of their Woodshed Burgers location on Edmonton’s 124th Street.

The plan is to continue selling burgers out of the south-side location until the dust settles. On Monday June 1st, Workshop Eatery will re-open its doors for dining room and patio service using the Woodshed South menu. Workshop Eatery and Woodshed Burgers are part of the expanding Robert Spencer Hospitality Group. Most recently it opened two restaurants called The Greenhouse in two City of Edmonton golf courses which are currently in operation. The group has another new restaurant in the works but details won’t be released until contracts are

signed and that could be as early as the first week of June 2020. Shufelt laughed when asked if people think he’s insane to open a new restaurant during a global pandemic, “The short answer is yes,” he admitted. “But if I can open a new restaurant during COVID, I can pretty much do anything!” www.theworkshopeatery.com

Pantry Board

Salmon with Swiss Chard Risotto, Beer Pureée and Orang Beurre Blanc