Homestead Restaurant in Riverview, N.B., reopens dining area amid ‘new world’

The Homestead Restaurant in Riverview, N.B., welcomed its first dine-in customer on Tuesday after being forced to shut down the dining area amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are certainly thrilled to be back and see some of our familiar faces,” said John Godfrey, who has owned the popular home cooking-style restaurant for almost 30 years.

As part of Phase 2 of New Brunswick’s reopening plan, restaurants and retail stores were among the businesses given the green light to open last Friday.

Godfrey says diners are in for a different experience as they will be greeted at the door with a welcome sign now calling for physical distancing. Posting COVID-19-related health information, he said, is a public health requirement.

“I am nervously cautiously optimistic. It’s a brave new world,” said Godfrey.

He said New Brunswick public health gave him a 15-page document outlining the strict protocol he had to follow to open his doors. Among the requirements, he said that staff are now required to wear masks at all times and must disinfect tables between every customer.

“Our dining room is now cut down to half the tables that we had in the old world. Even outside we need an attendant on the door and we need to maintain physical distancing in the parking lot,” he said.

Any business that wants to open needs to have an operational plan available for review by government officials. The plan must show the business can meet the requirements set out in the emergency order. Government officials can visit any business to ensure the requirements set out in the emergency order are being met.

Godfrey said a public health inspector visited his establishment on Monday to conduct an inspection to make sure they were adhering to all the protocols. He said they even measured how far apart the tables were and he said he was warned that the province will be conducting “spot checks.”

“We are doing all the things we can do to keep our staff and our families and our customers safe,” said Godfrey.

Godfrey says he knows that some people are still too nervous to dine out. But he’s hoping that by putting safety first, he will be able to fill the now much smaller restaurant.

1:34 New Brunswick officials warn people not to go too far with new freedoms

“Quite honestly, we are concerned about our financial future,” he said.

Only able to operate with half his staff and tables, like so many restaurants struggling to survive amid COVID-19, Godfrey says he has no choice but to adjust, adapt and, hopefully, overcome.

Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:

Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.

To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out.

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