Get A Catered Private Dining Experience For Your ‘Bubble’ At Ethel & Mary’s ‘Bubble Bistro’
SAINT JOHN — Ethel & Mary’s was open only three weeks when Covid-19 sent the entire province into lockdown.
The small diner-style restaurant that applies culinary knowledge to home-style, family favourite dishes, opened February 25 with much success and support from the community. But when the provincial government declared a state of emergency limiting how businesses can operate, owner Matthew Elliott was afraid all his hard work would be for nothing.
“It was really devastating. On the first day, it felt like there’s a good chance this all is going to go away. Which for me personally was really terrifying, because I had just spent two years and untold amounts of work putting it together,” he says.
“I did these renovations myself and I don’t come from a place of having a lot of money … So to do all that work then be face with a situation that it might just all go away for something that’s out of your control … was pretty terrifying.”
But Ethel & Mary’s has pulled through. They switched to a take-out only, reduced hours, and got creative with different offerings, such as their picnic baskets where customers can pick up local bread and cheeses for the weekend, and doing cross-promotion with other businesses. The restaurant also qualified for the federal wage subsidy, which also helped keep the doors open.
“We were just trying to be creative and think on our feet and basically get through it,” says Elliott.
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Even though the province is now well into the “yellow phase” of the recovery, Ethel & Mary’s is not ready to have customers dine inside again. Since their space is so small, they’re unable to maintain proper physical distance between customers who are not in each other’s “bubble” of friends or family. To work around this, they’re offering a new kind of dining experience: the Bubble Bistro.
“You can’t have seats in here and social distance,” says Elliott. “But because you are able to socialize within your bubble here in New Brunswick, we thought it wise to lean in that direction of it’s just you and your group and you can come in and have a very special meal, very much catered towards your experience.”
Customers can now book a six- to 10-person ‘bubble’ meal – a special, slowed-down dining experience at Ethel & Mary’s. Available only on Saturday evenings, Ethel & Mary’s will create a tailored four-course menu for your bubble with any dietary restrictions in mind, and paired with a tailored beer and wine menu. You and your bubble crew will have the whole restaurant to yourselves.
“It’s not like a traditional bistro experience. You’re not going to be presented with a menu and then choose from there,” says Elliott. “You’re basically going to give us some information and then we’re going to write the menu for you specifically, which I think is going to be really fun.”
Hosting private dinner events was always part of Ethel & Mary’s plans. In fact, the restaurant actually got its start doing pop-up dinner events. Though it’s definitely a way for the business to generate more revenue, Elliott says it’s also a chance for them to go back to that and be creative.
“It’s also a creative exercise for us as well because do miss that kind of service,” he says. “I really miss plating food and I miss having people dine-in and seeing their reaction.”