Described as ‘the worst thing to do, but the best thing to do’, top restaurateur Peter Gordon has temporarily closed his restaurant Homeland due to Covid-19 cases in his team.
“It was an incredibly hard decision, but such a simple decision, because there’s really no alternative,” he said.
Homeland is among the growing list of Auckland restaurants that have temporarily closed their doors due to Covid-related staff shortages over the last couple of days, which also includes The Oyster Inn on Waiheke Island, Ponsonby Rd’s Prego, fine diners Lillius and The Grove, Ebisu, Little Creatures, Soul Bar and Bistro, Gemmayze St, and several others.
For Homeland, the timeline to closure started on Tuesday morning when a staff member tested positive. Gordon and his partner, Alastair Carruthers, decided any staff rostered to work that day needed to take a RAT test supplied by the restaurant before beginning work. This yielded another positive case.
It was uncertain when the dining room would be able to reopen, but Gordon and Carruthers hoped to have Homeland’s grocery and a click and collect service running soon.
For now most of the food in the kitchen would be donated to isolating staff and a local marae.
“I don’t see any other alternative to what we’re doing at the moment, but it’s just bloody tough really,” Gordon said.
