Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Taking care of business: Takeout meal kits a bridge to reopening for Ferris' eateries

A commentary by the owner of Ferris’ Restaurant Group, which includes Ferris’ Upstairs Seafood & Oyster Bar, Ferris’ Grill & Garden Patio and Perro Negro Tapas + Wine in downtown Victoria.
TC_44162_web_VKA-ferris-7902.jpg
David Craggs, owner of Ferris’ Restaurant Group. Pivoting to takeout, along with government support and loyal customers, have helped keep the restaurants going, he says. DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST

A commentary by the owner of Ferris’ Restaurant Group, which includes Ferris’ Upstairs Seafood & Oyster Bar, Ferris’ Grill & Garden Patio and Perro Negro Tapas + Wine in downtown Victoria.

A reboot of our continuing series on the impact of COVID‑19 on local businesses. Six months after a lockdown and re-opening, business people share the experience and their views on moving forward.

DAVE CRAGGS

In late February, I sat down for a meeting with my managers to discuss how we were going to prepare for a pandemic. I thought we had a month, maybe longer, before COVID-19 became a reality, and I wanted to have a plan long before it hit. A week later, it was a reality. Shortly after, we closed our doors.

We were faced with the difficult task of laying off 50 employees. We made the immediate decision to help the transition by providing daily meals for our laid-off staff. Daily meal pick-up became an enjoyable way to stay connected with staff and, more importantly, allowed us to focus on something positive. We continued this staff meal program for a month until everyone’s Canada Emergency Response Benefit arrived.

We had recently signed on with DoorDash, so we were able to immediately pivot to takeout. It was a slow trickle at first, but eventually grew busy enough for us to bring back three staff.

Early on, we decided to put an affordable family meal option on our DoorDash menu in order to assist people on tight budgets.

One night, a customer ordered a family meal, but asked for it to be donated to someone in need. This sparked an idea to have a donation button on our DoorDash site, and this money was used to provide meals for other laid-off hospitality workers outside of our own staff. The support we received was incredible, and had us focusing on positive things rather than negative.

When the wage-subsidy program was announced, we were able to bring back a few more staff, freeing us up to expand operations. We built a website for meal kits and groceries, and we began selling everything from prepared meals to sourdough starter and toilet paper.

If it wasn’t bolted down, we sold it.

With Easter happening and families unable to get together as they usually do for a traditional turkey dinner, we added another dinner meal kit, followed by a Mother’s Day brunch kit.

We also teamed up with Phillips Brewery and did a five-course meal kit paired with beer. We pre-recorded a video of Matt, Simon and Shawn from Phillips and myself, talking about the food and beer, so people could follow along at home. On the night of the event, we followed it up with a Zoom session for all participants. I think it helped a lot of people feel normal.

We have continued with the grocery and meal-kit service, and have plans to expand it to become part of our regular business model.

When the reopening announcement came, it was bittersweet. We had gotten used to our new reality. Making things up as we went along and constantly pivoting had become somehow fun.

Ferris’ Grill & Garden Patio, with its many booths and large back patio, was the easiest to reopen, and required few modifications. We waited for a week to ensure we had our safety protocols in place and reopened May 29. Business was slow to start and our takeout and grocery business declined, so even with reopening, we only saw a sales increase of 25% over our takeout model.

Next up was reopening Ferris’ Upstairs Seafood & Oyster Bar. We began by offering a weekend-only set meal, eventually opening to full service by August. Then we reopened Perro Negro, but to minimize labour, the Oyster Bar kitchen cooked for both dining rooms.

With the reopening of all three restaurants, it was important to me to create an environment that was safe, but had ambiance. I fabricated barriers for each restaurant to match the esthetic of each dining room. Many of these will remain in place permanently, as they add to the dining experience.

With all three restaurants running, we are back up to a staff of 35. Business is about 50% of what it usually is, but with the wage subsidy and a great team, we are finding a way to make it work.

The few tourists we welcomed in the summer have come and gone, but September was better than expected.

We are extremely fortunate to have the support of a large local following. And we are incredibly grateful.

It will be the locals that save the small independent business, and I hope that people remember that when they are choosing where to spend their dollars.

We have been part of the Victoria fabric for almost 30 years, and we plan to be around well into the future. If we do have to shut down again, we are prepared to hustle even harder.

How is your business doing? Let our readers know with a personal commentary. Send a submission in 500 words for consideration to dkloster@timescolonist.com