A Table For One?

As the world gradually emerges from the coronavirus lockdown, the restaurant industry will have to face up to the challenges imposed by the pandemic. Gavin Nazareth looks at how the region’s dining landscape is likely to change.

- Gavin Nazareth

For serial restaurateur Syed Asim Hussain, the past few months have been the most challenging of his career. He’s apprehensive and tired. And he ought to be. Black Sheep Restaurants, which he co-founded in 2012 with partner Christopher Mark, owns and operates 24 restaurants across Hong Kong.

“The general uncertainty has caused a lot of anxiety,” he says. “In a world where there is a lack of clarity, the leadership team are just keeping it going day to day, and trying to lead by example and communicate openly. But we are also just really tired. There is collective fatigue for us in Hong Kong as this came on the heels of the social unrest of last summer.”

“We feel like we’ve been swimming against the tide for almost a year now, but restaurant people are scrappy and resourceful, I know we will get through this,” adds Hussain, whose hospitality group includes the one-Michelin-starred New Punjab Club and neo-Parisian bistro Belon (also No. 4 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list), both curating distinct dining experiences that tell a story about a particular time, place, culture and/or cuisine.

As Covid-19 raged across the world, one country after another plunged into lockdown. No industry was left untouched. Travellers, the backbone of many an economy, were reduced to a trickle. Hotels began dimming their lights. Retail stores were boarded up, and airlines had their wings clipped. Then, with the advent of government-ordered social distancing, eat-in services were halted and the bottom of the restaurant industry fell out like a soggy pizza box.