91. The Lights Go Out.

  On Friday 20 March 2020 the lights went out all over England though we hope we shall see them lit again in our time.
  In the face of a rapidly worsening situation in England due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and based on the evidence of epidemiological modelling which predicted a vast number of deaths in the country if urgent action were not taken to severely reduce social contact between individuals which would spread the disease, the Conservative government led by prime minister Boris Johnson, announced that all restaurants, bars and public houses throughout the country should close immediately. The lights literally went out. Two days later, on Monday 23 March, the entire population except for those employed in the National Health Service and other vital services and businesses, were ordered (effectively) to stay in their own homes except for a few reasons, which did not include going out to dine, to greatly restrict social contacts.
  These actions came as a great blow to the food and service industry, the ultimate outcome of which is yet to be known. The government announced that it would pour many billions of pounds into helping to preserve viable businesses throughout this period of ‘Lock down’. How successful these measures have been will only be obvious to food lovers here in Birmingham and the West Midlands when these awful times are over and we see how many of our restaurants have survived. It’s likely that many much-loved businesses will be lost.
  The same can be said for the diners themselves. Many diners who visit fine-dining restaurants are older, but rarely extremely old, because they have reached a stage in their lives where they can afford to dine there. Men over 50 seem to be particularly at risk. I fit into that particular group (well obviously, after all this is called ‘An Old Bloke’s Perspective’), I have every intention of taking as much care as possible of myself so that in a few months time I can be out again and savouring the delights at whichever of Birmingham’s wonderful food businesses survive.
 Some of the effects of the crisis:-

  In Blog 83 (dated 27 February 2020) I mentioned that Kray Tredwell was planning to open his new restaurant in the Custard Factory in Digbeth about May this year and he intended to pitch the price of meals so that younger less affluent people might be able to dine there (good but not every young person I see in restaurants is short of a bob or two). This news was reported on The HardensBytes. site several weeks later - well we can’t all be first with the news - but, not surprisingly, pointed out that the opening would be later in the year due to the current restrictions. Let’s hope all goes according to plan.