{"id":2458919,"date":"2020-05-27T22:32:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-28T04:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/wait-is-over-for-aspen-restaurants-wednesdays-reopening-is-a-hit-among-owners-diners\/"},"modified":"2020-05-28T07:16:30","modified_gmt":"2020-05-28T13:16:30","slug":"wait-is-over-for-aspen-restaurants-wednesdays-reopening-is-a-hit-among-owners-diners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/wait-is-over-for-aspen-restaurants-wednesdays-reopening-is-a-hit-among-owners-diners\/","title":{"rendered":"Wait is over for Aspen restaurants: Wednesday\u2019s reopening is a hit among owners, diners"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.2939481268012\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-326454-98\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled gallery-container\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/diningout-atd-052820-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/diningout-atd-052820-1-1024x697.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | Warwick Ford, center left, and Nola Ford share a lunch in the outdoor seating at Red Onion in downtown Aspen on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful, it\u2019s our first day back at Red Onion,\u201d said Nola. \u201cWe\u2019re locals and we love it!\u201d (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"swift-gallery-slide h-100\" readability=\"2.4296875\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"15.55\">\n<p><strong>Warwick Ford, center left, and Nola Ford share a lunch in the outdoor seating at Red Onion in downtown Aspen on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful, it\u2019s our first day back at Red Onion,\u201d said Nola. \u201cWe\u2019re locals and we love it!\u201d (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<br \/><a class=\"buy-link\" href=\"http:\/\/aspentimes.mycapture.com\/mycapture\/remoteimage.asp?backtext=Return+to+AspenTimes.com&amp;backurl=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/wait-is-over-for-aspen-restaurants-wednesdays-reopening-is-a-hit-among-owners-diners\/&amp;image=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/diningout-atd-052820-1-1024x697.jpg&amp;notes=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/diningout-atd-052820-1.jpg\"> Buy Photo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/diningout-atd-052820-1-1024x697.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Warwick Ford, center left, and Nola Ford share a lunch in the outdoor seating at Red Onion in downtown Aspen on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful, it\u2019s our first day back at Red Onion,\u201d said Nola. \u201cWe\u2019re locals and we love it!\u201d (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/wait-is-over-for-aspen-restaurants-wednesdays-reopening-is-a-hit-among-owners-diners\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/wait-is-over-for-aspen-restaurants-wednesdays-reopening-is-a-hit-among-owners-diners\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">A new day \u2014 with a lot of new rules \u2014 greeted Aspen\u2019s dining scene Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">This is what it looked like during the noon lunch hour: Hostesses and hosts greeting customers. Servers asking diners what they\u2019d like for lunch. People eating, together, both outside and inside of Aspen restaurants.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It was business as usual, except that it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">City officials wearing face coverings checked in on the eateries \u2014 were their tables at least 6 feet apart or were they operating at the 50% capacity rule? Were outdoor dining groups separated by at least 6 feet? Were servers, cooks and other restaurant staff wearing face coverings? Were those patrons not seated wearing masks?<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019re telling everyone the official word is 6 feet, not 8 feet (between tables), that every other table doesn\u2019t have chairs,\u201d said Mitch Osur, the city\u2019s director of downtown services and parking, in between business visits on the 300 block of East Hopkins Avenue, a stretch so densely populated with eating and drinking venues that it\u2019s called Restaurant Row.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Osur was with City Clerk Nicole Henning, the two monitoring the restaurants on the first day eating out was legal in Pitkin County ever since Gov. Jared Polis issued a statewide public health order that took effect March 17. The order limited eating establishments to takeout service, which could go only so far for an Aspen restaurant community whose oxygen is dine-in customers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">On Saturday, however, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment <a id=\"N0x2670ad0N0x25bb470:N0x2670ad0N0x26d8a80\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/state-approves-pitkin-county-variance-phase-2-reopening-to-start-wednesday\/\">agreed to Pitkin County\u2019s request for a variance<\/a> to the state\u2019s public health order, effectively allowing in-person dining as part of the county\u2019s Phase 2 implementation of its \u201c<a id=\"N0x2670ad0N0x25bb4d0:N0x2670ad0N0x26d8b10\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/u\/1\/d\/e\/2PACX-1vSC7IP5TQHcA1f-FibfLPZfQv-tmaRYS4OyQBSxhf7dXGRPDydH1IENc8wQEgxdLCRAOT67ahnnYWck\/pubhtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Roadmap to Reopening<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s nice seeing familiar faces, for sure,\u201d Red Onion server Jordan White said. \u201cIt\u2019s really fun to see people coming out again and not being afraid to walk around. People definitely want to sit outside more than inside right now. So we\u2019ll keep doing what we\u2019re doing and as long as we\u2019re allowed to be open, we\u2019re glad to be open.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">One table of four Red Onion regulars seized the al-fresco moment \u2014 it was a breezy 70 degrees and sunny outside in the Cooper Avenue mall. Their visit was fueled by some pent-up demand for one of their favorite Aspen haunts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019re here,\u201d one of them declared. \u201cFirst day back. We missed it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt feels nice to be out,\u201d another said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">They were not wearing masks but the law doesn\u2019t require them to; patrons only <a id=\"N0x2670ad0N0x25bb530:N0x2670ad0N0x26d8e70\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1YdWYv_Ni7d9DaRwD0w_uWmsbIAtt69tZ7pYSs0DyhDg\/edit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">must wear face coverings when not seated<\/a> at their table.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">That was one normal aspect for diners \u2014 not having to wear face coverings \u2014 and restaurateur Craig Cordts-Pearce said his team\u2019s goal is to make nothing seem out of the ordinary when it comes to the dining experience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cYou\u2019re going to see absolute positivity from our staff. We don\u2019t want to talk about the virus,\u201d said Cordts-Pearce, who with his wife, Samantha, own Steakhouse No. 316, The Wild Fig, The Monarch and CP Burgers. \u201cWe want to know where you hiked today, where did you do a bike ride? We are going to be as normal as we can. And that is going to be important to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While Cordts-Pearce was eager for the evening dinner patrons to arrive, it was a mellow scene during the noon hour at Meat &amp; Cheese, a place where waiting lines are common that time of the day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s really quiet,\u201d said Wendy Mitchell, owner of Meat &amp; Cheese. \u201cWe just opened and we\u2019ve had three tables so far, a couple of takeout orders. We\u2019ve been racing around like crazy people trying to get all of the stickers (boundary markers for social distancing) on the floor, and make sure everyone\u2019s up to date.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The restaurant is operating on a reduced menu before it rolls out its full-time July offerings. Its vegan-friendly meal Wednesday night was a sweet potato risotto with charred local squash and charred green onion. (That Wednesday evening crowd was disrupted for a bit by a passing downpour and high winds, but spirits still remained high.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cSo many people are telling me that they can\u2019t wait to eat in a restaurant,\u201d Mitchell said of the public mood over dining out. \u201cI\u2019d say it\u2019s about 80-20. About 20% are really nervous and uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For one restaurant, it made better business sense to ditch its dine-in tables so it can hold more people inside. The management at New York Pizza, where customers order their meals over the counter, removed the tables because the restaurant can accommodate more customers following the 6-foot social distancing rule. Like Meat &amp; Cheese, CP Burgers and Red Onion, NYP stayed open for takeout under previous health rules, its pandemic special was a large pizza with a salad and six-pack of beer for $35.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThis is our first day having the doors open, and we\u2019re doing take-out and standing-room only,\u201d co-owner Earl Rodgers explained as he and another worker were setting up social-distance markers in the stairway to the pizza shop. \u201cWe\u2019re not having any dine-in seating, so we can keep our occupancy at the right level.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Like other restaurants at lunchtime, White House Tavern had more customers dining outside than inside.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019re excited to be here for the community and provide everyone a safe and comfortable experience,\u201d White House general manager Avery Colgan said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The customers\u2019 comfort must come from the staff who serve them, Craig Cordts-Pearce said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe are there to make our guests safe, but first and foremost, we are taking care of our employees,\u201d he said. \u201c(Employees) are taking comfort knowing that we are following all of the protocols to keep them safe in our group. And when that happens inside our restaurant group, it\u2019s just going to flow to the customers. When we feel safe inside, the customer is going to feel safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Cordts-Pearce couple\u2019s CP Restaurant Group held an employee gathering a few days ago. Cordts-Pearce said he wasn\u2019t sure what to expect or who would show up. He was pleased with the outcome.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe thing that really put us on a high, we had the staff from the 316, the Wild Fig and the Monarch all come in a couple of days ago just to sort of regroup, set up the restaurants, and also for them to get the idea of this is what social distancing looks like \u2014 in the restaurant. The coolest thing was that everybody showed up and every one of our staff showed up. It was a like a family reunion,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone showed up, everyone was smiling, everyone was positive. Everyone was wearing masks, everyone was being respectful. It feels like we\u2019re halfway there, we\u2019ve been dealing with this mask thing for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The point of the story, Cordts-Pearce said, is that it shows that members of Aspen\u2019s service industry are in the same boat and ready to get back to work. The restaurant community also is anxiously awaiting what Aspen City Council will do Monday with the results of the city\u2019s online survey regarding a \u201cRecovery Street Plan\u201d that would close certain downtown streets to vehicles and open them to business commerce and outdoor dining.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cYou cannot make ends meet at 50% (capacity); you just cannot,\u201d Cordts-Pearce said, before commending the city for the work it has done with restaurants.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Aspen City Council\u2019s five members are acting as liaisons between business segments and the government. Mayor Torre is working with restaurants, transportation and food services to better understand their concerns and needs during the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019ve been working the city, and the city has actually been incredible,\u201d Cordts-Pearce said. \u201cTorre took on the restaurant side of it, and I call him at the weirdest hours and he picks the phone up, and he\u2019s been pretty integral to this and he\u2019s listening. And it\u2019s great because it\u2019s the first time all of us have actually gotten together and we have created this little coalition, and we\u2019re talking and it\u2019s incredible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s like we\u2019re a team. So not only are we a team inside our restaurants, now we\u2019re a team in the town and it\u2019s really cool feeling, actually. It\u2019s really nice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:rcarroll@aspentimes.com\">rcarroll@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/wait-is-over-for-aspen-restaurants-wednesdays-reopening-is-a-hit-among-owners-diners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Warwick Ford, center left, and Nola Ford share a lunch in the outdoor seating at Red Onion in downtown Aspen on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful, it\u2019s our first day back at Red Onion,\u201d said Nola. \u201cWe\u2019re locals and we love it!\u201d (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times Buy Photo Show CaptionsHide Captions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2458919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-17 06:20:03","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2458919"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2458930,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458919\/revisions\/2458930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2458919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2458919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2458919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}