Bartending in the Time of COVID: The Struggle to Keep the Industry Alive
With this “new normal” still feeling absolutely abnormal, the service industry, an industry that has not only kept DTLA’s ruby red heart beating strong with fresh blood for decades is suffering more than anyone could have ever imagined. As many business owners have grappled with the effort to keep some sort of business afoot with takeout and delivery services steering the ship, there is simply no substitute for the full experience when it comes to a cocktail bar.
Eric Alperin, partner and co-founder of multiple concepts including The Varnish, the award-winning drinking hole situated within Cole’s French Dip off of 6th and Main has felt the weight shift as closing, re-opening, and closing again has taken a toll that no one could have expected—all while releasing a book about his experience in the industry.
“For me as a business owner, creating a space where people feel comfortable and that welcomes all walks of life is really important to me as a tenant—so is creating a space that your staff, the people you work with are proud to call it their place of work.” Says Eric “You know, if the business makes money, that’s great too, but you need those first two tentpoles to have a complete experience. Caring for your staff, especially in this extraordinary time and situation is super important.
Business owners like Eric aren’t just worried about monetary loss, they’re worried about the well-being of their team and extremely fearful for the culture that is dissolving rapidly during the shutdown.
Diana “D” Danaila, beverage director at Bar Franca shares the exact same fear. Diana chose not to go back to work once the bar reopened to give her co-workers who were having trouble receiving unemployment a chance to stay afloat.
“It made more sense for staff members who were in that position to go back before I did,” she says. “I went and I visited, and even then the mood had changed so drastically. It was nice to see the familiar faces in our neighborhood momentarily and people were excited to come, but something had fundamentally changed.”
Bar Franca had only been open just over a year when the pandemic reared its ugly head, and as a female-owned, queer-owned business, and also the only bar who hosts a lesbian night, D fears that without a place like Franca, there will be no more dedicated lesbian bars left in LA.
“The only worry we all have collectively, as bartenders or managers of places like these, is what will be left in downtown after we’re gone, and how long will it take for us to rebuild?” She mentions, “The unique businesses that make our community diverse give our neighbors very specific catered places to go to. The downtown that we’ve all worked hard to cultivate into a community will only be left with these monoliths of corporations that can afford to take those types of losses. “
The lead of another beloved DTLA bar, owner of Ham & Eggs and LA Wine David Deluca decided not to re-open Ham & Eggs at all during this time.
“I feel like with our state, obviously federally, it was just so poorly handled,” says David. “I never want to be the guy that’s anti-anything, but to drag people through that in such disregard to health and reality was jarring. To go from being a bar-owner to be expected to be a health expert is wild.”
As LA Wine continues to offer a take-away service, it’s been extremely difficult for a go-getter such as David from the beginning of all this to operate on the lowest frequency in fear of the unknown as regulation has been changing basically from day to day. “It’s a part of our lives that will certainly be a ‘before and after’ moment,” says David.
Written by Dakota Nate | Photography by Robiee Ziegler, Dylan Jeni
For updates on these bars, follow: @thevarnishbar, @barfrancadtla, @hamandeggsdtla
