By Jamie Lynn Connors
Nearly six months after the state banned indoor dining, Morristown residents finally can go back to eating inside their favorite restaurants this Friday.
During his daily COVID-19 briefing on Monday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced the reopening of indoor dining across the state as of 6 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2020.
Murphy provided strict guidelines for those reopening. Restaurants can serve no more than 25 percent of their seating capacity. Parties must be less than eight people, social distancing and staff mask-wearing must be ensured, and customers’ masks only may be removed while seated.
“Everyone must pull together,” Murphy said, emphasizing any inability to follow these guidelines will not be tolerated.
Leia Gaccione agreed that restaurants need to follow these rules to ensure maximum safety and success.
Gaccione is the chef and owner of the South+Pine American Eatery on South Street in Morristown, which has been open for take-out, outdoor dining and delivery through DoorDash.
“Hopefully it will go well if everyone plays along,” she said. “If we don’t see an upswing in cases, we will all be very successful.”
With reopening in mind, Gaccione said the restaurant will focus on social distancing and sanitization to promote the well-being of customers.
The Committed Pig, on Park Place in Morristown, also will conform to Murphy’s guidelines, to be “part of the solution and not the problem.” The burger and pancake house has been offering take-out, sidewalk dining and delivery through DoorDash.
“It’ll be a transition period,” said Dillon Smith, the general manager of the restaurant. “We’ve got to play a little trial-and-error, being as careful as possible.”
Although he is glad to reopen indoor dining, Smith has not been overly worried.
“We’re in the business of cheeseburgers,” he said. “No matter what happens, I think people will always be looking for cheeseburgers.”
Other restaurant owners, including Gaccione, had worried about how they would survive the fast-approaching cold weather months without indoor dining.
Not everyone was as supportive of Murphy’s announcement, however.
State Sen. Anthony M. Bucco (R-25th Dist.) criticized Murphy as being too cautious.
“I’m worried…that limiting dining rooms to 25 percent will not be enough or a boost to compensate for a change in seasons that will quickly make outdoor dining less and less viable,” he said in a statement.
“I strongly urge the governor to examine if the 25 percent capacity limit is overly cautious in light of the months of planning, preparation, and reconfiguring that restaurants have undertaken to allow for a safe return to indoor dining,” Bucco said.
Over the summer, at least three Morristown restaurants — the Morristown Pancake House, Nunzio’s Dolce Vita and La Campagna Ristorante — closed their doors. The Urban Table’s closure may be temporary. The Market Taverne, an upscale Harding establishment with a Morristown zip code, shut down as well.
State lawmakers last week unanimously approved a $30 million measure, co-sponsored by Bucco, to reimburse restaurant owners for money spent on supplies for a planned July reopening that Murphy abruptly reversed, amid concerns about outbreaks around the country.
Murphy on Monday urged residents to stick to their routines and remain mindful of the ongoing pandemic.
“We’re able to take so many steps forward today because of the hard work millions of you have done to keep pushing down our health metrics,” the governor tweeted. “But, we can’t let up on our vigilance even one bit.
“Our job now is to ensure that this reopening only leads to future announcements expanding the indoor capacity limits and that we do not have to take a step backward,” Murphy said.
