Connell Sanders

CONNELL SANDERS Restaurants hoping to weather the Worcester winter have three options

SARAH CONNELL SANDERS

Three operating models have taken hold at restaurants cross the country in preparation for the coldest months of the year. Plenty will invest vast quantities of capital in order to weather proof their patios. Others will rely on bubbles, tents and domes. Some savvy entrepreneurs will vie for a piece of the prepared foods retail market. And, many will close for good.

Regardless of restaurateurs best efforts — local, state and federal support is especially pivotal for sit-down dining to prevail in Worcester come wintertime.

Domes, bubbles and igloos.

Lock 50 introduced dining igloos on their Water Street patio back in 2018. Then, last winter, we watched them materialize at the Beer Garden on Franklin Street and on rooftops across Boston. When it comes to COVID-19, the domes are an excellent option for small “quarantine pods.” The enclosed bubbles obviously reduce airflow, but they can be easily disinfected and aired out between reservations. Each structure calls for an investment of roughly $1,500.

Winterize your patio.

The Boynton has purchased large propane heaters controlled by thermostats in preparation for plummeting temps. Effectively winterizing outdoor areas in New England is expensive. Alternatives to patio heaters include external fireplaces and vinyl curtains. Blankets and throw pillows are also a nice touch, but they need to be washed after every guest. Large restaurants looking to upgrade their open-air seating can easily wrack up a bill of anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000 with little certainty as to whether a return on investment will exist in a post-pandemic world.

Market your market.

Sit-down dining isn’t a realistic option for many establishments at the moment. Not to mention, the majority of Worcester’s restaurants lack any semblance of outdoor space. Some forward thinkers are shifting into preservation mode by transforming their eateries into shops and

Many restaurants have begun pivoting to a market model in preparation for the winter months, including deadhorse hill on Main Street where customers can purchase grab-and-go meals along with natural wines and bottled cocktails.

SARAH CONNELL SANDERS

marketplaces.

Case in point: deadhorse hill on Main Street is done with dinner service. (At least, for now.) After two decades of dedicating every moment of his free time to tracking prime products and mastering cutting-edge techniques, chef Jared Forman is slowing down to think deliberately about what’s best for the long haul.

For Forman and his leadership team, this shift will open up opportunities to cultivate new branches within the deadhorse brand. Bar manager Sean Woods is perfecting his to-go bottled cocktails. Natural wine expert Julia Auger is orchestrating a wine club in addition to operating her own shop out of the restaurant’s cafe. And Forman, well, he’s doing what he always does — chasing culinary inspiration.

The coming weeks will bring a variety of visiting chefs to deadhorse, including a sandwich battle with MamaRoux’s Jon Demoga and Halloween treats by Boston’s top pastry chef, Kate Holowchik. Even so, there are days when Forman wonders what each passing service could have been like under normal circumstances.

“The awards and reviews we worked so hard for will fade away,” said Forman. “People and relationships are all that really matter anymore.”

Nevertheless, the transition meant saying goodbye to his valued frontof-house employees in order to stay afloat. Forman acknowledges that letting staff go was the most difficult part of the team’s decision. Many of his peers from the industry have come to him visibly upset about making similar payroll cuts. “I tell them, ‘Sometimes you have to do whatever it takes to keep your business alive, even when it’s uncomfortable,’” he said.

I find, it’s often hardest to take your own advice.