A Vancouver restaurateur who openly defied a ban on indoor dining said he’s now playing by the rules, but is organizing others in the industry to demand an audience with the province’s health officer..“I don’t do this to be disrespectful of the order, but I just want consistency because I don’t like hypocrisy — I think this order is unfair and it discriminates those of us in the restaurant business,” said Federico Fuoco, owner of Olympic Village’s Gusto: A Taste Of Italy..“For a lot of restaurants, this could be the final nail in the coffin.”.Vancouver Coastal Health ordered a ban on indoor dining on March 30, but Fuoco kept the doors of Gusto restaurant open and took his frustrations with the province’s latest round of COVID-19 restrictions public..He said has several reasons why he initially defied the order..“First, there was no forewarning on this — we got blindsided on this. We got the message at 1 p.m., and (Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry) says this takes effect at midnight.”.Fuoco said he also takes exception to the knowledge many other commercial enterprises were allowed to keep their doors open..“Why are we being singled out,” he asked..“Why not Walmart, Costco, liquor stores — why isn’t there a blanket policy here?”.The restaurateur finally decided to abide by the order Saturday and said he got in touch with a few fellow restaurateurs who indicated they were in dire straits..“They ordered thousands of dollars of product because that’s a busy week for us. Now, all that inventory is gone,” he said..“The fear is, come April 19 (when the current ban expires), there will be an extension.”.The indoor dining ban is a part of a three-week “circuit breaker” meant to curb rapidly climbing numbers of new cases of COVID variants..The province recorded more than 1,000 new cases mid-week last week for the first time ever, shoving BC over 100,000 total cases..As the number of cases rises, the province feared the third wave would be magnified by long-weekend travellers..Late last week Island Health authorities said contract tracing proved all three variants of COVID-19 were brought to the region through non-essential travel by British Columbians, and others..Still, Fuoco asserted Henry’s order isn’t based on science..“Where is the proof this spreads more rapidly in restaurants,” he asked..He said he has received no support from B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association that earlier called for fines, business closure or license revocation of any business defying health orders..“That’s why I’m organizing on my own,” he said, noting the pandemic already cost him Federico’s Supper Club, his “dine and dance” restaurant that was forced to close its doors one year ago because of COVID-19..More than the estimated 10,000 Canadian restaurants that have shuttered because of the pandemic..“I want to band together the restaurant industry and I would like Henry to reconsider this order and I hope she does that this week,” Fuoco said..“We want an audience with Dr. Henry — we have to have that.”.While the business owners will have to wait to see when or if a meet can happen, Fuoco said he’s heartened by public support..About one out of 10 calls I’ll get someone calling to say, ‘I hope you die a COVID death you f-ing a######.’ And all this stuff,” he said..“But the other nine out of 10 have been very supportive, it’s unbelievable.”.Mike D’Amour is the British Columbia Bureau Chief for the Western Standard..,.mdamour@westernstandardonline.com
