Open for business!

Step by step, life is slowly getting back to normal in Orange. Children have returned to schools, office workers to their desks and patrons can once again sit down for a meal in their favourite cafes and restaurants.

For café owner Kate Jones, the ten-person limit is a far cry from her normal capacity of 68, but she is just happy to see her customers face to face once more.

“As soon as we were allowed to have people back in here, we were always going to open whether it was ten, eight, whatever,” said Kate.

“Just seeing people back in here was so good. There's no money in ten people, but for us it was more about connecting with our customers and last week we had a ripper! We saw so many faces we haven't seen in a long time.”

When cafes and restaurants were first ordered to close their dining rooms, Kate switched her focus to takeaway sales, even opening at 4.30am to generate more trade. But as things grew more serious, Kate made the decision to close her doors.

“I think that first week was probably the toughest that I've ever felt in business and I've been in small business for about 18 years,” she said.

“It was gut wrenching having to close, but it was worse looking out here into a blank restaurant not seeing any people in it, no laughter, no discussions, I was just so sad. So we just decided in the end that it was better we closed. But six weeks later, here we are!”

From Monday, venues will be allowed to hold a maximum of 50 people although social distancing requirements must be adhered to. For Kate, the floor area means she can seat 27 people, but seeing any number of people in her restaurant again is good news to her.

“So 27 people for us and still as many as you want to sit outside so happy days! We can fit 68 normally, but I'll take 27! Twenty-seven is better than zero, so I'm pretty pumped!

“We also do a lot of outside catering as well and that's starting to come back now as well because the restrictions are lifted. Meetings are coming back, people are allowed to have people in their homes, so we've done a couple of birthday parties and we've got weddings starting to book back in again.

“But I can't tell you how good it felt to see people in here laughing last week. I just love being with people and our customers have really missed that connection as well. It is good for your soul, it really is!”