Page 19 - BusinessWest May 16, 2022

days a week. Now, in order to give his staff some time off, they are open only 4 days a week.
“The pandemic exacerbated a problem that our industry already had with finding enough workers,” Santaniello said. Advertising on job search sites such as Indeed and a restaurant spe- cific site called Poach has brought limited results.
“We found our biggest success came from advertising on Facebook.”
For 13 years, Alta was open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner. These days, hours have been reduced to 6 nights a week and lunch hours were cut.
“I’m sure there are some people who are not comfortable coming back into a restaurant. I think we’ll start seeing them once outdoor dining picks up.”
“We reduced our hours because we couldn’t hire more people,” said Telle. “I didn’t want my staff to have to work six double shifts, so I closed lunches to protect our staff.”
Telle is currently interviewing people with the hope of offering lunch hours again by late spring.
“We always get busier as the sun comes out,” he said adding that business also gets a big boost from all the tourists who visit Lenox in the summer.
Collins called it the best investment he’s ever made when he paid his staff their full salary dur-
ing the six weeks Center Square was closed for repairs.
“It’s so tough to find qualified people that
it made sense to us,” Collins said. “Most of my team has been with me for quite a while and it would have been tough to replace them if they had to leave and find other jobs.”
There are signs that open restaurant positions may be starting to get filled. Brow reported that Highbrow is fully staffed and he was able to hire a full staff for his new restaurant Jackalope in downtown Springfield.
“Even though wages are up much higher than pre-pandemic, the workforce is back,” Brow said. As the weather gets warmer, all the restaurant
owners look forward to expanding their outdoor dining. They all expressed gratitude to state and local officials for keeping this lifeline open even after diners were allowed back inside.
“I’m sure there are some people who are not comfortable coming back into a restaurant,” Col- lins said. “I think we’ll start seeing them once outdoor dining picks up.”
On May 1, Telle began accepting reservations for summer dining at Alta.
“People are making reservations into July and August,” he said. “And 85% of those are requests to sit outdoors.”
Collins added, “fresh air is not going out of style anytime soon.”
Summer also brings with it the opportunity to support local farms. Telle said working with local farms allows him to control some of the price increases, though he understands local prices will be higher this year than in the past.
Collins buys as much local produce as he can. In fact, his menu credits Szawlowski Farms in
Hadley with supplying potatoes for their French fries.
“When tomato season kicks in we will buy them from Meadowbrook Farm in East Long- meadow,” Collins said. “Nothing tastes better than fresh local produce.”
The Bottom Line
Between outdoor dining and customers who are excited about eating out again, the restaurant owners all remain positive about this year and beyond.
Santaniello, describing himself as an optimist by nature, said, “I’m hoping by the fourth quarter of this year we will see some stability in pricing and as more people return to the workforce it will benefit our industry.”
Telle said he’s hopeful about hiring new staff and looks forward to a busy summer. “Right now, we’re following the same business patterns as a regular year.”
With Jackalope scheduled to open on May 11, Brow expressed gratitude despite all the uncer- tainty. “For those of us who made it through, it was worth the wait.”
For Collins the year started with closing for six weeks to fix major water damage. Despite that setback, Center Square is still on track to have its busiest year ever. He philosophized that a restau- rant experience is more than just food.
“People need to go out and socialize.
They need to feel that connection,” Collins said. “When they don’t, they get depressed and grumpy.”
He concluded, “that’s why we’re all back and we’re pumped to be here.” u
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