Our business is centered entirely around events, which are currently disallowed due to COVID-19. We’re currently out of work and out of pay for our staff.
Bills march on with time and are still due if we keep the business alive. We had enough cushion to absorb a 96% drop in revenue for March 2020 and some impact in February 2020, but with the federal recommendation to avoid groups of 10 or more for 8 weeks starting March 16, 2020, we cannot absorb a loss for that many months.
The options for financial aid are currently available are inadequate or not fast enough. There’s talk of federal grants and even one from Facebook, but it’s still just talk. There’s a grant we applied for from the city of San Francisco, but no information is available about when we’ll be notified about the process, result, or timing to receive the money, and it’s still only enough to cover half of one month of expenses if we do receive it.
A flattened curve (which is still worth it to me, even if we close) and its impact on the events business will have a far longer impact — I’m estimating six months at least. This puts us in a bad place for loans. Re-entering a weakened market with $50,000-$100,000 in debt after so many months of zero or reduced revenue would be irresponsible.
Our team is handling all this admirably even though our livelihoods are at stake, and I’m proud of them for their willingness to find a way forward that’s best for themselves and the company as a whole. We understand there is a very real risk of closure here, but Cookhouse is more about our people and skills, as well as our extended family of chefs, servers, florists, vendors, suppliers — not the physical venue, and we can pivot if need be and given the chance to.