Cafes prepare to serve

Collie restaurants, cafes and pubs are preparing to open their doors to the public again after the State Government announced stage two of their recovery plan will begin next week. From Monday restaurants may open to a maximum of 20 patrons with social distancing rules applied, but Collie businesses will be taking a slow approach. The Ridge Motel restaurant manager Aleesha Clarke said the restaurant would reopen gradually, starting with day-time service. “As of Monday we are reintroducing coffee, cake and brunch service,” she said. “This is something we can keep an eye on easily because these are the main times management are around. “We need to make sure everyone is doing the right thing and social distancing.” The Ridge maintained takeaway services throughout the closure, allowing the motel to keep kitchen staff employed, and will continue to provide takeaway dinners during the first stage of reopening. “We’re not diving into dinner service just yet, we are going to hold off a little bit on that,” Ms Clarke said. “I’m really excited for it, it’s a huge positive for us.” The Colliefields Coffee Shoppe and Tea House owner Michele Gannaway said her cafe will also open gradually. “Monday to Thursday we will do only day-time service but then Friday and Saturday nights we will be open,” she said. “We’re going to ease into it. “The cafe will be open all day because I know our regular customers are busting to come back.” Mrs Gannaway said while she was excited to welcome back customers, she was looking forward to further easing of regulations. “Our motto is ‘friends meet here’ so kicking people out after an hour is not really our thing,” she said. Other pubs and cafes are continuing to make plans for a gradual return while some remain shut, having been forced to close while the restrictions were at their peak. “We are still warming up for bigger and better things for when we can reopen properly but for now, we don’t want our customers to miss out,” Mrs Gannaway said.