Port Chester's Saltaire Reopens While Still In Orange Zone
PORT CHESTER, NY — When the news last week was announced that restaurants in orange micro-cluster zones would be allowed — after eight weeks — to resume offering indoor dining under yellow zone rules, Leslie Barnes, managing member of Saltaire Oyster Bar and Kitchen in Port Chester, said his first thought was "too little too late."
"Were we happy?" Barnes said. "Yes," but that sentiment was tempered by having missed out on a profitable holiday season.
"And we can only have four people at a table," he said.
A state Supreme Court decision Wednesday temporarily granted a few select Erie County restaurants located in orange zones the ability to resume indoor dining. As a result of that ruling, which is still be reviewed, the state decided to let all bars and restaurants currently operating under orange zone restrictions reopen to indoor dining customers.
Under the regulations for orange zones, where coronavirus infection rates were highest, restaurants could not offer indoor dining. They could still provide takeout and outdoor dining, though colder weather made that increasingly more difficult if not impossible.
Yellow zone rules allow both indoor and outdoor dining, as well as takeout. The rules limit diners to four people per table, and bars and restaurants must close at 10 p.m. for on-site consumption.
Barnes announced Saltaire will reopen for indoor dining Thursday.
Although it's nice to try to reopen, he said, the restrictions — maximum of four per table, tables 6 feet apart, barriers between tables — will make it difficult, if not impossible, to make up any lost economic ground.
"My sales revenue, compared to 2019, is down 66 percent," Barnes said.
He said he will not be open for lunch and won't be able to accommodate large parties.
"This shutting down of restaurants was arbitrary," Barnes said. "It's killing the restaurant industry."
His frustration was compounded by the fact that the only community in the Hudson Valley that was saddled by the orange zone restrictions was Port Chester.
"It's going to be very, very hard to remain open," Barnes said.
He managed to keep the business going thanks to the first round of the Paycheck Protection Program and has applied for the second round.
"Unfortunately for Saltaire, we have a fairly expensive product," Barnes said. "When we were only open for takeout, we did OK.
"Was it a money maker?" he said. "No. I lose less money by not opening."
When the restaurant is reopened, the Saltaire menu will include oysters, a raw bar, lobster, salmon, halibut and tuna, as well as steaks and chops. Reservations can be made through Yelp! Reservations.
Barnes said that he anticipates being extremely busy when his doors reopen Thursday.
"We have a very loyal clientele," he said. "We are going to try to make something happen."
Saltaire Oyster Bar and Kitchen is at 55 Abendroth Ave. in Port Chester.
This article originally appeared on the Port Chester Patch
