Specialty Food Magazine

around others is going to take a while." Garces says he expects sales at his restaurants to ramp up throughout 2021 as restrictions on dining capacity are eased. "We may be at 15 percent of our levels in February, and we would be happy to get to about 50-60 percent by June or July and get to close to 100 percent by the beginning of next year," he says. New Avenues Garces, like many operators in the industry, has pursued new avenues of business, including two new ghost kitchen brands: Rustika, which specializes in Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken, and Livy's Plant Based Foods, which offers meatless burgers and sides such as vegan mac-and-cheese. He recently launched both concepts from a commercial kitchen space in the University City area of Philadelphia. "We will continue to see people gravitate toward services where they can get this higher level of cuisine delivered at home," he says. "I feel like that is going to be around for some time, and maybe permanently." Garces also revived his Garces Trading Company brand, which focuses on gourmet heat- and-eat meals and other at-home food experiences. He had previously closed the brand but revived it to meet the demand of consumers seeking high- quality, convenient meal solutions. He operates it out of the kitchen of his Philadelphia event venue, The Olde Bar. He also sees restaurants capitalizing on opportunities to offer more specialty retail products, driving revenues through the sale of items procured through chefs' own unique supply chains. "Our ability to curate and find and procure great products is a skill that we should embrace, because we have done it for our restaurants and our menus for a long time," says Garces. He's planning to announce such a venture of his own into this space later this year, although he declined to disclose details. In addition to his retail and foodservice ventures, Garces also has become more involved in virtual events, in part through his newly launched personal brand site, ChefGarces.com. There he offers brief culinary demonstrations called Cooking Space, which he said meld together mindfulness, music, and food. He's also conducting live cooking classes in partnership with a group called Latin Live. "I have been doing a lot of virtual cooking demonstrations during this time, and I have enjoyed giving back, teaching, and being engaged with fans and with guests that have not been able to come in and dine," he says. Styne, meanwhile, says she still plans to open two new restaurants in downtown Los Angeles this spring, despite the restrictions of the pandemic. The openings have been delayed by more than a year. The restaurants, which will mark the debut of foodservice at the Proper Hotel, include a rooftop venue and a small bar, which will have expanded sidewalk seating, a key tool operators around the country have leveraged to salvage sales, at least in warmer months and in warmer climes. "Still, it's hard when you open a restaurant to get that 'wow' experience of walking into the space when it's outdoors," says Styne. "Trying to create that on the sidewalk is a little difficult." Consumer Lifestyle Changes Styne also says the industry will have to adjust to the increasing prevalence of consumers working from home. Her restaurants have felt the effects of this shift during the past year in the form of "Looking ahead over the next decade, one of the most important trends will be what happens with remote workers … it substantially impacts how the consumer's food dollar is spent and where." PHOTO• LIV GARCES • SPECIALTY FOOD SPECIALTYFOOD.COM RESTAURANT RECOVERY

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