Much to the relief of restaurateurs, local restaurants reopened in July after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced an advanced level 3 lockdown with less stringent restrictions.
Chef Clifford Correia (48), who is owner of a café in Stoneridge Greenstone, spoke on the reopening of business.
Clifford, a chef for 28 years, said he is comfortable with restaurants operating again.
The chef explained sticking to hygiene protocols is easy for the industry as strict hygiene was always a top priority for restaurants.
“All safety measures are in place. We have contactless menus and others have been laminated to allow for sanitising after every use. We have also moved tables 1.5m apart and spent a lot of time training our staff and they all wear masks.”
Clifford believes people want is the ‘old normal’.
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Lockdown has been devastating for the restaurant owner and his staff.
“We support 20 staff members and to live without an income for three months has been extremely hard.
“We received overwhelming support from our community and to be honest, we would not be here to reopen without them,” said Clifford who started a back a buddy campaign.
“We were truly blown away by the donations that came in. We were able to give salaries to our staff with these donations.”
Innovation kicked in when Clifford started ‘BilliBi @home meals’ during lockdown as an option to take away healthier and wholesome meals.
“Growing up I always loved cooking even as a teenager. I would prepare family meals and experiment in the kitchen.”
The chef was a learner at Dawnview High School in Germiston and was fully aware of his dream to become a chef by the time he finished school.
“I did my apprenticeship at one of Gauteng’s top french restaurants and from there I worked for the Linger Longer group and got great exposure in Cajun cuisine.”
He opened his first restaurant in Kensington which was voted one of SA’s top 100 restaurants at the time.
Clifford said his favourite dish to make is shakshuka.
“Something I made often for my family whilst I was at home during lockdown was shakshuka. It’s a quick easy and wholesome breakfast or brunch dish.”
Clifford said he chose to open a restaurant in Stoneridge because there was mostly fast food options in the area.
He loves his community.
“I often feel like we are in a TV show where everybody knows my name. We have many regulars and everyone knows each other. I also love how we are always meeting new interesting people and their family and friends.
“It’s a wonderful friendly community vibe that I don’t think one finds everywhere.”
Clifford urged the community to support their local eateries.
“They need you now more than ever.”
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Contact the newsroom by emailing:Editor at germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za, or Busi Vilakazi (Journalist) busiv@caxton.co.za.
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