SALT LAKE CITY – With the announcement that Salt Lake and Davis counties move from high to moderate guidelines, four businesses in both provinces the return to full capacity.
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“Honestly, I feel so much hope for the first time in a year,” said Katie Rae Curtis, manager of the Twigs Bistro and Martini Bar restaurant in Farmington. “We have seen little progress, but I feel excited. I get chills about it.”
Under the new guidelines restaurants in Salt Lake and Davis counties can now operate at full capacity, with six-foot distances and masks still needed in waiting areas and when customers get up from their tables.
“Moderate is a big step in the right direction to get the restaurant industry on the road to recovery,” said Melva Sine, president and CEO of the Utah Restaurant Association.
For Curtis, full capacity means increased revenue, but also the ability to increase staff.
“We now have to limit our staff to a certain amount of shifts per week,” she said. “And with the full capacity, we’ll be able to make more shifts. It’s going to get more money in the community’s pocket to support local restaurants or local businesses.”
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The new guidelines also lift restrictions on events, which means that spaces such as the Hale Center Theater in Sandy can also move to full capacity.
“It’s obviously a huge deal that helps us financially where it’s been a difficult industry to work in for a while,” said Quinn Dietlein, executive director of Hale Center Theater. “The other side of it is just the joy factor for the actors and the patrons. It’s a two-way street.”
After working with 25% capacity for months, he was able to share the good news with a cast and crew from the theater during a rehearsal Wednesday night.
“There were twenty minutes of happy, muted cheering in the whole group. It’s really an exciting time for us,” he said.
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Despite the increased capacity, both businesses said health safety is still a major concern.
“Our standards in our restaurant will not change,” Curtis added. “What the staff expect from our staff for beauty, health standards that will not change.”
“There are an extensive amount of procedures we have instituted, all of those things are still in place,” Dietlein said. “The biggest difference is that we can now be shoulder to shoulder, as long as everyone wears masks.”
Both Dietlein and Curtis said the move to a moderate level guideline feels like a light at the end of a year-long tunnel.