Afsheen khan, the woman behind popular Lahore eatery Dock 27, is currently ensuring the restaurant continues to cater to patrons despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Before launching Dock 27 Khan was acquiring culinary experience the world over. The Dock 27 executive chef specialises in Italian and French cuisine. Read all about her background, business and dinning safely at Dock 27.
As a restaurateur how did you cope with the lockdown due to Covid -19?
I think the dine-in restaurants and café industry suffered the most amid Covid-19 lockdown. The repercussions were such that many eateries had to completely shut down their operations for good because even sustainability was impossible after a couple of months of closure. Some thought of creativity for continuation of business such as car dining, specialised packaging linked with various SOPs for food deliveries at home and so on. All restaurants were trying different ideas for survival and we also pioneered by introducing on-line digital menus using QR codes to make things easier for our diners. Many approached popular on-line food delivery entities but unfortunately they took massive advantage during the pandemic by raising their commissions. To be honest, all the measures we took just added more cost towards our operations and the suffering increased immensely.
What is it like running your restaurant while observing so many SOPs?
Finally after a lockdown of almost five months, we were allowed to open our premises with various SOPs. The hurdle we are facing is that only few leading restaurants are following SOPs. Many diners are still rightfully cautious from the threat of Covid-19 and prefer to eat at restaurants where safety SOPs are followed but most of the eateries have just opted to continue operations as if Coronavirus was never a reality and its prevalence is apparently nothing more than a myth. As a result, we foresee an unwanted crack down (meaning another lockdown) on restaurants because when it comes to spread of virus, generalise decisions are likely to be more effective then selected or targeted combat strategies. Places of public gatherings are indeed considered as hubs that harbor viruses so we are unluckily still at risk of closure due to negligence from our fellow eateries. At Dock, we strictly follow all the SOPs as advised by Government and even do more for safety of people.
Do you observe any special SOPs when delivering takeaways and how do you make sure food items are protected and not spreading the virus?
There is currently no evidence that people can catch Covid-19 from any form of food, including fruits and vegetables. In fact cooked meat, fresh fruits and vegetables are part of a healthy diet and their consumption should be encouraged especially when we keep our kitchens under strict surveillance for a clean and hygienic environment ensuring safety of workers and diners. Indeed several myths are still circling around but as per WHO, corona viruses cannot multiply on the surface of food packages. It is not necessary to disinfect food packaging materials, but hands should be properly washed after handling food packages and before eating. Still a certain number of people are paranoid about disinfecting almost everything they touch whereas the majority seems absolutely relaxed and don't even follow the basic SOPs such as wearing of masks or use of hand sanitizers.
Are there any other challenges you have come across as a professional chef and a restaurateur?
Apart from Corona challenges, consumer expectations in general from restaurant industry are rising exponentially and the rapid movements are bringing various benefits for diners. But some trends have become lethal challenges for the restaurateurs and one of them is sustainability of uniqueness with an upbeat ability to innovate further every few days. Now culinary art is associated with freshness of food and organic ingredients alongside many hygienic and environmental factors. People want to see innovation not just in presentation of food but elements such as crockery and cutlery are also important. The customers want to see grill marks on their steaks but for a chef, it is so challenging to enhance the beauty of dark brown meat on a black stone slate because conventional white ceramic plates are now considered outdated. Hence sustaining high cost of daily chipping and breakage of crockery and cutlery is inevitable. Costly side servings are required to make an entrée entertaining yet tasty for patrons to take pictures. Non-symmetrical yet comfortable seating corners taking loads of extra space are in demand. Customers expect extensive decors for events, customised cakes and even DJs on site. The cost of theme-based restaurants such as Dock 27 is far too high due to various factors. Use of expensive lights, staff attire, original paintings, wall art, lanterns, perfumed candles, fresh flowers and plants add loads to our daily operational costs.
What are the challenges you encounter while running Dock 27?
To sustain a well-trained team, policies for staff well-being alongside timely payments to vendors are vital. HSE and CFA compliances to ensure safety of all including customers requires not just effort or vigilance but deep pockets. The canvas to market even a creative and sellable food entrée is so big because you have to spread the news on various digital forums and even print media. Thus expenditure is a must on videography and photography. Also in fine dining, we have no choice but to agree with the clients if they find anything wrong in terms of taste. When a descriptive menu clearly states fiery pasta with three signs of chillies and still the customer decides to reject it for being spicy, the norm is to quietly void the dish and serve a replacement instantly. 75% plus sales are on credit cards offering discounts with no rebate to restaurants so indeed challenges are increasing day by day.
Is it a challenge to move forward with an ongoing economic slump especially in the restaurant industry?
Of course, we are all geared and excited to serve our patrons with the very best. We are continuously adding more variety to our menu and even expanding our operations in other areas and cities despite the additional challenges expected due to an anticipated second wave of Covid-19. When our customers are showing up in numbers notwithstanding increasing economic crisis, why not we reciprocate with gestures where we can? I just sincerely hope and appeal to all our fellow eateries as well as enthusiastic diners to follow SOPs as best as they can to avoid another economic dent to the hospitality industry and possible harm to their own health.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ