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To market, to market: Restaurants pivot to select groceries as COVID shapes consumer habits

Eateries smooth out industry ups and downs with food products customers can take home

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Restaurant owners have added mind reading to their skill set as they scramble to figure out what’s going to keep customers coming into their businesses during the pandemic.

What is it that patrons want in the era of COVID-19? Is it comfort food? Perhaps they are looking for a sense of community, supplemented by pick-up windows and one-stop shopping?

At least two owners in Edmonton have renovated their restaurant spaces to offer a variation on groceries as one way to attract enough customers to keep afloat during a trying time.

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Over at Tiramisu Bistro on 124 St., owner Seble Isaac has just finished turning a little-used private party room into a charming community market featuring organic vegetables, fresh-baked bread, bright bouquets of flowers and kitchen staples such as eggs, cheese and charcuterie. Growlers of Alley Kat Beer are also available, and wine. A small, pick-up window that faces the bustling street is perfect to grab a coffee or a gelato.

The idea for the market came to Isaac after she was forced, like everyone else, to close her restaurant in March. She noticed long lineups in grocery stores, and wondered if offering more grab-and-go items in her space could provide comfort and convenience to consumers, and a new niche for her business.

“When the market idea came, it gave me the energy to come back and renovate the restaurant,” says Isaac, who has owned Tiramisu for nine years. “We put in a garage window to create a little bit of interaction with the street, and to create a little more openness. This gives people a little experience — and hope.”

Chef Lino Oliveira is co-owner of Bodega Pantry, located at 10220 103 St. David Bloom/Postmedia
Chef Lino Oliveira is co-owner of Bodega Pantry, located at 10220 103 St. David Bloom/Postmedia Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia

At Bodega’s downtown location on 103 St., co-owner and chef Lino Oliveira also wanted to repurpose a space that was no longer working for private parties, given current physical distancing restrictions. Open to the street, Bodega Pantry is proving a stylish extension of the restaurant’s brand, featuring the makings for some of Oliveira’s house specialties — including his fresh mussels with saffron cream sauce.

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“We get a lot of demand for raw ingredients, plus deconstructed dishes and sauces,” says Oliveira. “So we’ve turned the room into a deli for now, based on the circumstances of COVID.”

Bodega Pantry, which is open 11:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. every day but Sunday, features a good selection of Spanish and Portuguese cheeses, such as Manchego and Limiano, and meats, including chorizo and Iberico pork. You can grab a bottle of wine, too, or some of Oliveira’s favourite spices in small, convenient portions. Shelves are stocked with local products, such as Brassica mustard from Calgary.

All day long, customers can pick up fresh soups, salads and hand-made sandwiches (think piri piri chicken, or smoked duck and pear with arugula) to take out, or to enjoy on the small patio outside the restaurant until 1:30 p.m. In the evening, Bodega Pantry opens up a small seafood bar with oysters and prawns on ice for take-out.

The desire to offer one-stop shopping for customers also motivated owner Rob Filipchuk to stock a number of barbecue-ready grocery items at the south side’s The Glass Monkey. There, fresh brioche buns can be paired with vacuum-sealed, fresh-ground sirloin and brisket patties for use at home. Do-it-yourself meal kits, such as pulled pork tacos or pizza with house-made dough, have proven popular, as has the large selection of wines and craft beers sold at the same price as at the liquor store.

“I think we’ve come out the other side of (COVID) enough so that people don’t have as much free time now as they did in the beginning,” says Filipchuk. “As people get back to busy, and when kids are back in school and activities, time needs to be spent as efficiently as possible when people are doing their errands.”

lfaulder@postmedia.com

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