Back in February, Paul Le got word from a friend in South Korea about how serious the new coronavirus was.
At that time, life was mostly operating as normal in the United States. Public health officials had not yet recommended closures or banned large gatherings. Even without a governor’s edict, Le, who co-owns the Sushi Joint in Camas with his fiance, Tressa Waring, decided to make alterations to his restaurant’s service.
He temporarily closed the Sushi Joint and devised a plan to safely reopen the business for takeout orders.
“We put the brakes on everything,” Le said.
Le said some people thought he “was nuts” at the time, but his decision proved prescient.
When Le’s restaurant came back online after a couple of weeks, it was more than ready to accommodate physical distancing and sanitary measures that Gov. Jay Inslee required after banning on-site dining in mid-March to protect against the spread of the virus.
Sushi Joint patrons place orders over the phone. Customers are encouraged to pay with credit or debit cards, which are sanitized before being run and before they are handed back to customers.
Staff at the restaurant wear masks and gloves, reaching through the restaurant’s door to place orders on a table outside for waiting customers. Le said the new system has worked so well that he might keep it in place until there’s a vaccine, or at least widespread testing.
“I don’t want to die, and I don’t want anyone else to die on our accord,” Le said. “We owe everybody that kind of respect. It’s the right thing to do.”
The Sushi Joint, along with The Hammond Kitchen & Craft Bar in Camas and the Jack in the Box in Washougal, are three restaurants that have gone above and beyond the recommendations of state and local health officials, according to Clark County Public Health Food Safety Program Manager Brigette Bashaw.
“It’s a big change,” Bashaw said of the altered environment. “Most kitchens are pretty compact to get the most out of their space. For businesses that remain pretty busy, the fast-food, quick-serve business, they are probably just as busy as they were before, but they need to reduce the number of staff they have.”
Protections in place
Public Health is working with local restaurants to make sure they are practicing proper physical distancing in their kitchens and in the front of the shop.
Some restaurants have put Plexiglas in front of the cash register to protect customers. Some restaurants, as well as groceries or convenience stores, have used tape to mark where people should stand to keep proper physical distance.
Jennifer Snyder, a food safety specialist with Public Health, said restaurants, in some instances, are changing their workflow to increase safety.
“They are changing how the food is prepared and who does what, and where and when, so they can compartmentalize the food flow in the kitchen and maintain that distancing,” Snyder said.
Public Health is fielding and investigating complaints of food safety. Bashaw said gloves or utensils are required for direct food handling, but gloves are not required for cashiers or people who are not touching food directly. Masks are recommended but not required. Even with gloves and a mask, frequent handwashing is important, as is maintaining 6 feet of distance from others.
“Wearing a mask does not reduce the need for the other public health criteria in place,” Bashaw said.
At The Hammond Kitchen & Craft Bar, staff have set up a system for disinfecting deliveries, and breaking boxes down. People pay online for food, and orders are taken out to people’s cars by staff wearing gloves and masks. Staff are supposed to take their temperature each morning before they arrive at work.
The new system is a quite a change for The Hammond, a family-owned restaurant with capacity to seat more than 100 people. Gwen Goodrich, who runs the restaurant with her dad, George, and mother, Elizabeth, said people can make growler orders, buy bottles of wine or purchase a cocktail kit, in addition to purchasing food.
Since the restaurant has so much space, Goodrich is hopeful it can reopen for physically distanced in-person dining whenever health officials say it’s safe. They have already started to map out new seating arrangements that would align with physical distancing recommendations.
“We are looking to the future to figure out how this is going to look for us,” Goodrich said.
