One of KelownaNow’s most popular stories since the COVID-19 outbreak has been a list of local restaurants offering take out and delivery services.
However, for the time being, you won’t find one of the city’s most popular restaurants on that list.
As the dangers of the pandemic became apparent, Cental Kitchen, owned and operated by Jared Lee and Devon Murray, immediately decided to shut down all operations.
“We acted quickly to mitigate any risk of transmission of the virus to our staff and customers,” explained Lee.
“Our amazing staff was very understanding, but that doesn’t save the fact that we were forced to lay off 40 staff and leave them with an undetermined future."
Long before the COVID-19 pandemic blindsided the restaurant industry, Central Kitchen had begun planning a large expansion to increase its seating capacity to over 150 customers during the summer.
Ownership is now doubling down on those plans with hopes of an exciting grand reopening when provincial health restrictions permit.
“We’ve built a structure with eight-foot high windows around our patio to give us more seating, including 63 new seats that will now be available year-round,” explained Lee.
“There will also be an additional 35 seat seasonal patio running curbside along Ellis Street, it’s a very large expansion.”
While expansion is exciting news, Central's owners remain cautiously optimistic as the pandemic wreaks havoc on the restaurant's industry and its employees.
“We fulfilled a moral obligation to our staff by paying them a week’s worth of wages to tied them over until the federal financial aid comes into play,” said Lee.
“It’s our hope they will all return when the time is right, we think our business as a family and Kelowna is a part of that family too, we really want to see the community pull through these hard times.”
With food and drink off the menu right now at Central Kitchen, anyone looking to support the local business during hard times can purchase gift cards online for when the patio season finally arrives.
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