Glasgowist: Hugs and Pints in the age of COVID-19

It’s been a confusing week navigating the blizzard of government pronouncements and speculation emanating from Holyrood and Westminster. For the most part, not much has changed.

Stay at home is the message in Glasgow, at least for now - our future is revealed in three week increments. 

Some food places and offices that closed voluntarily have reopened. Streets are still quiet. You can spot a few familiar faces from local hospitality from a safe distance, passing containers through windows, standing behind perspex screens or wearing masks at makeshift counters.

Cyclists wait two metres apart outside restaurants to pick up their next delivery. We can exercise more, which could balance out the resurgence of deep-fried takeaway options. 

I collected a bag of ingredients and pre-prepared dishes from Cail Bruich at the weekend and it was the first time I’d stepped foot in a restaurant since all this began.

After following instructions in my own kitchen, the meal was excellent, but I couldn’t help thinking about how social distancing measures make the reopening of small restaurants and bars highly unlikely. 

The hospitality industry restarting this summer may be possible in some cases, but for a lot of businesses it is wishful thinking.

What is a bar if people can’t gather in groups for drinks and conversation? Collection and delivery might help keep the lights on, but if customers can’t spend time in the venue, this is not a viable replacement. 

READ MORE: Glasgowist: City restaurants eagerly await news of lockdown being lifted

Bars in particular play a big part in defining the areas we live. In Glasgow, it’s about more than slinging beers and snacks.  

I spoke to Colin Campbell, co-founder of Hug and Pint, a bar that usually buzzes along every night with a hip demeanor, a venue for a left-field acts with a menu that showcases a modern take on plant-based cooking.

Great Western Road is better for them being there. I asked him if he was conscious of the value of what they do.

“It's what we believed in the start. We wanted to do well, we wanted to make a place that makes people happy. A transaction with the customer where they can pay a fair ticket price, come in and have the time of their life.

"Offer a great food selection. That was our opening statement. You do lose track of that and start to wonder if you are doing anything worthwhile.

"Especially when this happened and we had to close down. There’s owners all over the world wondering how important hospitality is. Does it really matter.” 

“Personally, at this stage, there’s certain bars I’m starting to miss. Certain foods I’m starting to miss. I’m sure that’s true about our place. I definitely miss the music. The first couple of years we were doing it, we were out at gigs every single night of the week. You are probably looking at that not coming back before the end of the year, especially small venues.”

READ MORE: Glasgowist: What will Glasgow's food scene look like once this is all over?

That’s going to have a major impact on the life of the city. We won’t interact with each other in the same way for a long time. Pints will involve planning. Hugs are definitely out.  

 We’ve now completed the first stage of lockdown, which Colin characterised as a lot of waiting. “We did a takeaway for the first week and all that money went to the staff. Now the furlough money has started to come in and that's the first government support we have received." 

“My priority is payroll. We're still waiting for other support. We've still got utilities and suppliers to pay from last quarter. They are starting to chase us and we don't have any income.”

READ MORE: Glasgowist: Here are little things that we can look forward to post lockdown

“Our next stage is going to be doing more live streaming and we are looking at launching collaborative t-shirts. Our chef, Jake, is working on a cookbook with my girlfriend Beth. It’s just looking for projects we can pick up.”  

The momentum that the food and drink scene had in the city has ground to a halt. Colin agrees that the next few months will be a challenge.

“The thing about reopening with social distancing that you have to remember - restaurants and bars are making ends meet by the skin of their teeth a lot of the time.

"You are looking at a busy lunch and dinner service every day supplemented by gigs to survive. In terms of our business model, it's not feasible to be restricted to something like 30% or 50% of customers. We're tiny.

"It's the same with most bars. Two metres distance doesn't exist in hospitality.” 

“If the government force us to go back with social distancing measures there will be a lot of people looking to pivot to takeaway. It's not the easiest thing to do and it's not cheap. Doing it out of a busy restaurant would be fine as something added on, but in terms of a replacement for people coming in and buying pints with their meal, it's not there.” 

The next stage in all this involves more waiting.

“We do want the Hug & Pint to be there. We will do anything we can to bring it back. The primary concern is the health of people.

"The government has to do whatever it can to protect the public without triggering an economic collapse. We are hoping we are not told to go back before we can do it safely. The hospitality industry along with the gig industry are going to be the last to go back so we just need to wait and see.” 

There’s a wider conversation happening with bar and restaurant owners as they take a pause and look at the industry as a whole.

"There’s a growing realisation that something wasn’t quite right even before the pandemic took hold. I asked Colin if he’d like to see more discussion on a local level. “I'd like to see it all over the world. It's true of a lot of things. If we look at the small hospitality and gig industry, it's just scrambling away for money all the time. For years. The day to day operation is tough. 

“The model wasn't really working and the quality of life for owners isn't there. Even if you are making money, you are stressed because businesses survive week to week. I would really like to see a conversation that addresses this.

"Suspending rates was one of the first measures introduced, previous to that there were proposals for a massive rates hike. Hindering businesses is not what local councils should be doing. We are under enough pressure.”