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December 11, 2020

Restaurant workers plan Monday protest at Governor’s mansion

Photo | CT MIrror Butterfly Restaurant in West Hartford closed for dining-in during the spring wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Liese Klein

Banging pots and pans and holding signs, restaurant workers are planning to march on Gov. Ned Lamont’s official residence on Monday to seek aid for their ailing industry.

“We’re organizing and assembling to ask our state government to help us out,” said Dustin Amore, head bartender at Conspiracy cocktail bar in Middletown and one of the protest leaders. “We don’t want to see any more [restaurants] have to close their doors or cut staff.”

The impromptu protest was sparked by the statements of  Dr. Manisha Juthani, who spoke as  Lamont's guest at his COVID-19 briefing on Monday. Juthani said she advised against going to restaurants and said she herself had not been in a restaurant since the crisis began.

Juthani’s remarks had an immediate negative effect on restaurant traffic, Amore said. “It definitely impacted us,” he said. “Places are getting slower...it’s a very, very tough time.” 

Recent restrictions on restaurant hours have also hurt business, adding to the expected decline caused by colder weather discouraging outdoor diners.

In addition to ending the 10 p.m. mandated closing time for restaurants, Amore said his coalition is seeking a “relief package” that would go beyond the state’s grant offering of earlier in the year. 

Amore said he expects at least 150 people and up to 500 to attend Monday’s protest, which has been publicized on social media and in other outlets. Organizers are asking protesters to wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines.

“I’m over the moon with the response,” Amore said. “People feel like they are finally going to be listened to.”

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