Much-needed nourishment

As it became clear that the COVID-19 virus would hit the dining and entertainment industry particularly hard, Sandston restaurateur Bobby Haller worried about what the future would hold for his restaurant and employees, but he wanted to do what he could for Henrico’s first-responders, regardless.

So Haller, who owns the Sandston Smokehouse on West Williamsburg Road with his wife, Maria, reached out to local public safety officials. His chef and general manager, Zach Pettrey, visited a half dozen Henrico firehouses and offered to cook meals for them at their locations, if necessary.

Haller then called Varina District Supervisor Tyrone Nelson to see if his restaurant could be part of an emergency food preparedness effort, if the county was planning one. Nelson suggested he call Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas, who was intrigued by the idea and connected Haller with his chief of staff, Cari Tretina.

Two days later, county officials had formulated an even better plan, based upon Haller’s idea: Nourish Henrico, through which the county is purchasing meals from locally owned Henrico restaurants for its for its public safety, public health and public utilities employees. Henrico restaurants that meet a few basic pieces of criteria are added to the program’s database, which the county’s 800 or so frontline employees can pull up on Henrico’s internal geographic information system, or GIS, to determine which participating restaurants they’re near.

Then, they’re able simply to stop in, order one meal per shift (up to $15 each), and be on their way. The restaurants keep a tab of all meals purchased that way each day, submit the list to county officials at the close of business and receive payment by credit card within a day or two.

County officials view it as a win-win: It helps keep Henrico’s restaurant industry, which produces about $30 million in annual tax revenue for the county going during a challenging time, saving jobs as it does, and it provides some relief for frontline employees of the county, who can take their pick of dozens of restaurants once every time they’re on duty.

“There have been so many positives from the first-responders’ perspective and from the businesses’ perspective,” Tretina said. “We’ve heard from businesses that are now literally able to keep their doors open, hire back delivery drivers or an additional cook.

‘It’s helped a lot’
The initiative began in earnest about a week and a half ago, and it’s already paying dividends for Henrico restaurants.

“To me, it’s helped a lot,” said Tim Sadler, who with his wife, Cary Outland, owns The Dugout Bar and Grille on Mountain Road in Glen Allen, a popular 30-year-old hangout that they bought eight months ago. “We got a lot of police officers who came in the first time and bought wings, burgers, tots. Then they were off for four days. Their first day back [on duty] they came in and said, ‘We were just waiting to come back.’”

Sadler estimated that about 70 percent of his business now comes from the program. It’s allowed him to continue in operation with his wife, despite having had to lay off his staff of nine when the pandemic began.

For Haller, the speed with which the concept materialized was impressive.

“It was kind of exciting to hear that what we thought about just as an offer to help first-responders, now the county has turned into a full-fledged initiative,” Haller told the Citizen.

The county began accepting applications from restaurants March 24 online (at henrico.us/restaurants), and they came by the dozens. In the days since, more than 220 have applied and nearly 90 have been approved so far, Henrico Chief of Staff Cari Tretina told the Citizen.

“It’s literally exceeded all expectations,” Tretina said of the widespread interest in the program from restaurants. She’s also had conversations with other jurisdictions who are interested in perhaps replicating the program.

The application process is simple and quick; restaurant owners complete a form to verify that they are locally (not corporately) owned, have a Henrico location or locations and can accept credit cards, among other requirements. Once county officials have verified all information, a restaurant is added to the program’s registry. Applications are still being accepted, and new restaurants are added to the list daily.

There’s no guarantee that participating restaurants will benefit, Tretina said, and they all know that going into the program. County officials have earmarked funds for the program that originally were intended to be spent on county sports events that were cancelled by the COVID-19 outbreak.

“It’s not [negatively] impacting any county service or any department budget, “ Tretina said. “That’s totally off the table.”

‘Hey, I need hands’
Haller and his wife had laid off their entire staff and were working March 28, a Saturday, with one of their line cooks on what was to have been his last day, when “before our doors even opened, we were getting phone calls from the police, fire, Henrico’s Jail East in New Kent,” he recalled, “so I kinda put a mayday on our company chat saying ‘Hey, I need hands.’”

Business was steady that day, and it’s continued ever since.

“It’s actually allowed us to see a positive in this, that we may actually be able to stand firm through this thing – one, without having to close our doors, but two also being able to bring [back] half our staff on pay,” Haller said. (Of his 10 employees, two were back working last week and another four this week, he said.)

Like Sadler, Haller has seen the program account for about 70 percent of his business since it began. The restaurant has a food trailer, which it has been parking in various subdivisions throughout the region several days a week as a way to drum up business elsewhere, he said.

“But this initiative is our main focus,” he said of the Nourish Henrico program.

‘We all need to be helping each other out’
Tazza Kitchen in Short Pump joined the list just a few days ago and has served four police officers through the program, according to employee Bailey Keller.

“One hundred percent, it helps us,” she said of the initiative. Though the restaurant had to let go of almost its entire staff and those who remain have taken pay cuts, “we’re doing the best we can, keeping our lights on,” said Keller, who previously served as a manager and private dining coordinator.

“Now, I’m not really sure,” she said, with the hint of a chuckle, when asked to describe her position. “Front of house?”

Despite its own challenges, Tazza Kitchen (which also has locations in Scotts Addition and Midlothian) has been making regular trips to donate meals to hospitals and other health and medical employees.

Christian’s Pizza in The Village Shopping Center on Three Chopt Road just became active in the program a few days ago but has received several orders in that time, general manager Jacob Urbach told the Citizen.

“It’s cool, I think it’s a good thing,” he said of the initiative. Christian’s has enough business for 10 employees, about half what it had before the pandemic began. It’s lost about half of its regular business during that time, Urbach said, but its delivery and pickup business is sustaining it so far, and he knows the county’s initiative can only help.

“We all need to be helping each other out,” he said.

For Sadler, who along with his wife invested thousands to refurbish, paint and generally renovate The Dugout in order to bring it back to life, the Nourish Henrico program seems such a good idea that he hopes it will continue even after the pandemic subsides.

“I think it’s good, I wish they would do it more, not just now,” he said. “It’s gotten to where we’ve gotten to know a lot of the police officers. We’ve had the fire stations come up to get wings. A lot come up and say, ‘We want burgers for the whole station.’”

Haller has reduced his restaurant’s hours – as nearly all restaurants have – and now operates from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. He’s not used to having a full weekend off, but he’s just thankful to be open four days a week – largely because of a program he helped foster.

“It’s really been a blessing for us and I know some other restaurants,” Haller said. “It’s helped all of us out.”