Restaurants and wineries are in a world of hurt due to the countywide lockdown announced March 16.

All wine tasting rooms were forced to close completely for tasting, with some of them offering onsite pickup for online orders, and many offering free local delivery for a minimum bottle purchase. Left Bend in Los Gatos has decided to close indefinitely to help stop the spread of the virus. They are offering $1 shipping in California for all purchases. They recently received 93 points from Wine Enthusiast for their 2013 cabernet sauvignon from Fellom Ranch, on Montebello Road.

Big Basin Vineyards has closed its tasting room locations in Saratoga and at the winery in Boulder Creek. They are offering a 10 percent discount on all online purchases, complimentary shipping for purchases of six or more bottles, and complimentary local delivery within 30 miles of either location for three or more bottle purchases.

Restaurants are in a difficult spot: If they already do a lot of takeout and are set up for it, they’re better positioned to weather the storm. If they are strictly geared toward on-premises dining, that’s a different story.

Before the lockdown order was put in place, Mike Williams of Southern Kitchen wrote on Next Door, “As a restaurant owner in town, I can tell you that this is very scary. We did half the business we normally do this week. With such high rents and small margins, it is absolutely scary. We want to stay open for our guests and, of course, to keep the staff going financially. We are following the protocols. We want all of our guests, friends and Los Gatans to know that we appreciate everyone’s show of support in these scary times. We will definitely be supporting our local shops and restaurants.”

Adam Chick, owner of Sidecar Modern Tavern in Los Gatos, says he is shuttering for a minimum of three weeks. He was busy calling all his vendors to cancel orders. “We hope to weather the storm.  We have a great concept, staff, cocktail program, fantastic chef and great mixology. We were so busy the last week; we were just killing it! We did everything perfectly and got blindsided. It took a damn global pandemic to shut us down.”

Chick said Sidecar was fully prepared to deal with the social distancing directive, but going to a takeout only model was not in the cards.

“We don’t have to-go food. (Executive chef) Jacob (Farleigh’s) style tends to be very intricate, and that just doesn’t translate to takeout. We chose to honor his style. Hope to be back in April. We have an awesome brunch, and can’t wait to roll that out.”

The folks at Enoteca La Storia—a wine bar, retail shop and restaurant—have been thinking a lot about their extended family lately.  In an March 16 email, before the lockdown order, they announced 20 percent off retail purchases of Girasole Imports wines and 15 percent off retail purchases on all other wines through the end of April. “Whether an actual relative, a co-worker, customer, business partner, friend, neighbor or fellow human, we are all ‘famiglia,’” the email read.

They promised to keep the Los Gatos restaurant open “as long as we can,” to offer a respite from the madness, including takeout. They are modifying business hours at their San Jose location and staying open for takeout orders and wine retail. Both locations will offer curbside pickup on request.

Brianna Hanson of Oak & Rye, a Los Gatos restaurant that’s seen many changes over its lifetime, says, “We are doing our best to remain open. Limited hours, noon-8 p.m., with to-go orders only.”

Nick Difu of Nick’s On Main shuttered for at least the duration of the lockdown as of March 16. Difu heard the news about the lockdown on KCBS as he was driving to work to meet with his chef and some staff to discuss how to implement the “social distancing” imperative that was in place prior to the strict lockdown. He says the decision to close and lay everyone off was really hard but fundamentally necessary.

“I don’t believe that we can operate as a takeout restaurant. We would love to support the community, but I don’t believe we could do so. It just doesn’t work as a business model for us. I’d have to make the hard decision about which employees to keep and which to let go, were I to try and go the takeout route. I felt it best to shut down and let everyone apply for unemployment.”

Difu believes his food and price point are not conducive to a takeout-only format. “I don’t want to compromise my standards, and don’t want to disappoint customers, either.”

As tough as this closure will be on the Nick’s On Main family—and he considers his 29 employees, a good deal of whom have been with him for many years, as family—he believes that Gov. Gavin Newsom did the right thing by taking decisive action.

“The previous situation was very uncertain and scary,” Difu says. “I applaud them for finally making a decision. It’s clear now where we stand. Before, it was all up in the air. I applaud our governor for making the right decision.”

Given the tight labor market we’re in, Difu acknowledges he might not get back some of the employees he let go when things finally pick up again.

“This is just the beginning of the fallout,” says Difu. “It’s such a hard industry as it is.”

Testarossa Winery has had to suspend all of its tasting room operations, events, wine bar and classes. Founder and co-owner Rob Jensen said in a March 16 statement, “Today’s Covid-19 shelter in place requirement for six Bay Area counties will have massive negative impacts for many small businesses, including small family owned local wineries like Testarossa. “

Just nine weeks ago, Testarossa had kicked off its 27th year in business having been named Winery of the Year by “Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine.” At the time, business was booming and the future looked bright.

“In addition to this amazing award, we just came off a record year in 2019, and were looking forward to breaking ground this summer on the largest renovation at our historic 19th-century winery home in 65 years,” Jensen says. “Now this is all put on hold.  Weddings and corporate events for the next few months have all been postponed or cancelled.  Our tasting rooms in Los Gatos and Carmel Valley, which have been selected by the Mercury News as the best local winery for tasting the last 10 years, are both closed. Our Wine Bar 107, also a Best of Silicon Valley award winner, is shuttered until further notice.”

As a small family-owned business, Jensen says, Testarossa is in a fight for its very survival. But he sounded an optimistic note, saying, “We have survived challenging times in the past including 9-11, the dot.com bubble burst and the Great Recession.  We have a strong, resilient team, and amazing growers and vendors who are all in this together with us.

We look forward to our community and the world overcoming this tragic health catastrophe, and we look forward to opening the doors of our historic winery for any and all visitors who want to come back.”