VENICE, Calif. – The rules and restrictions for the restaurant industry are constantly changing. Businesses need to keep up with the different guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic. Celebrity chef and entrepreneur Matthew Kenney has to balance concepts in different cities and even countries during this uncertain time.
Crafting natural, healthy meals from plants is chef Kenney’s life mission. One of his restaurants is Plant Food and Wine in Venice.
Kenney says food impacts the body and eating clean helps keep people healthy, which is important in the time of coronavirus.
“Food should be not only pleasure, but it should be nourishing healing and promoting longevity,” said Kenney.
The chef spreads this message through his plant-based lifestyle company Matthew Kenney Cuisine. He has six concepts in L.A., dozens around the country, and even more around the world. But he’s found it difficult to keep up with the changing restrictions to the industry during the pandemic.
“It’s a lot of moving targets. I’m reading the news in Chicago, then in New York, and Florida, and L.A. is changing every day,” said Kenney.
The situation in L.A. changed again right when he was about to re-open this restaurant in Venice. Plant Food and Wine closed in March and they took this time to re-design the space and the menu. They planned to offer dine-in right when indoor was restricted again. Luckily, they have a large outdoor patio.
Although the back and forth has put a strain on his staff.
“Not that it’s been easy, it’s been really, really challenging and hard, but I think that as a group we will be much better off having gone through this,” said Kenney.
And this is true for his restaurants around the world as well. He was on the brink of opening multiple locations, but had to change directions for some, while others aren’t opening at all, which is difficult for Kenney to cope with.
“That’s an advantage to be able to configure and rethink how we operate, but at the same time these have been in the works for two years. A lot of capitol and energy is put in them and then all of a sudden it just stops,” said Kenney.
As Kenney checks out the new menu at Plant Food and Wine, he looks to the future of the restaurant industry. He thinks we took dining out for granted and feels it will become a luxury once again.
“The averages of people dining out will probably be reduced and that may result in restaurants being more of a special experience,” said Kenney.
With the hospitality landscape changing every day, restaurants and their owners must be nimble as they continue to adapt to the pandemic restrictions. Kenney feels though that the industry will be forever changed in whatever the post-COVID world may be.