“Where are we right now? We’d all love to know. That’s a million dollar question,” Cat Cannon of St. Clair Social says.
For most diners in Pittsburgh, it feels breezy to eat out again. But on the other side of the curtain, things are more fraught.
Labor issues brought on by the pandemic remain a top concern to restaurateurs, one that dovetails into the stressors of inflation and the economic challenges of delivery apps. All of these, not so breezy.
Sweeping changes in the hospitality industry’s labor force — from the number of staffers employed, what employees are paid and how they are treated on the job — are in progress. Supply chains are stabilizing but still scattered. Inflation is affecting everything from the price of beef to the lids you put on your coffee cup.
“We’re still working, changing, adapting to keep moving forward to what’s next,” says Tolga Sevdik, director of operations and co-owner of the Richard DeShantz Restaurant Group. “We have three major concerns right now. Labor concerns are still number one. Then there’s product availability. Then there’s the increase in prices.”
Sevdik oversees an eight-restaurant portfolio that ranges from Poulet Bleu, a refined French restaurant, to Coop De Ville, a fun-filled barcade with fried chicken sandwiches and a sparkling-wine machine. Two DeShantz restaurants, Butcher & the Rye and Fish Nor Fowl, have been closed since March 2020 but are likely to reopen before the end of the year.
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