This is not a restaurant.
Image by Brian Samuels Photography
I’m sitting in the dining room at Mei Mei, trying to remember our last busy service in March. As I look around today at the piled up chairs and tables and the storage shelves enjoying indefinite residence in their places, it’s apparent: this is not a restaurant. Now, in the seventh month of the pandemic, I can say that with certainty.
Prior to COVID-19, Mei Mei had been a restaurant for over six years, and we were preparing to have multiple restaurants. Back in April, as we undertook emergency feeding and grocery delivery, I said “this is not a restaurant, at least not right now.” In July, as we re-introduced hot food and doubled down on virtual classes, I said “this is not a restaurant, at least not exactly,” But today, with increasing certainty, I’m preparing myself to say: “this will not be a restaurant again.”
We did try; we have been trying. Some pivots have really worked, but most have sputtered. In a way, I haven’t been surprised -- there is so much uncertainty and cognitive dissonance, so much mixed messaging from government and restaurant leaders alike. Nothing is normal, so why would our sales be? I’ve stayed opposed to onsite dining, whether indoors (which is potentially dangerous for diners, not to mention staff) or outdoors (which seems like it will be very cold very soon). Our catering business, which used to make up 30%+ of our revenue, is all but gone, weddings and large gatherings especially.
Early in the year, we thought we were hitting the pause button. Months later, we still can’t press play, at least not in any financially meaningful way, and our bills have piled up. We’ve scrambled and scrounged, and like so many other restaurants, seem to have only bad options. We can’t just hold our breaths or hibernate; we need to keep moving. Our industry is now a slightly smaller group of businesses fighting for a greatly reduced pool of potential revenue. As many have predicted, restaurants are closing (and will continue to close) because there is simply not enough business to go around.
One of our core values, which we revisited and revamped during the pandemic, has to do with practicing generosity and operating with an abundance mindset. The state of our industry has challenged us to find other ways to enact this value. Every day, we struggle to provide hospitality -- to really hear and see our guests -- in the new normal. We have to enforce rules and policies; we have to say “no” a lot more than we’re used to. Some days, it makes me angry, but increasingly, it makes me sad.
Many pivots later, it is time for a leap. I’m starting to let go of the restaurant incarnation of Mei Mei so that the essence of Mei Mei -- our values, our commitment to our relationships and communities -- can hopefully survive. If we make that leap and hit the ground running, you’ll come to know (and hopefully love) a very different version of Mei Mei. Maybe a packaged dumpling company, maybe a virtual events and catering business, but almost certainly not a restaurant. Our team, including those laid off over the summer, have worked incredibly hard to make restaurant operations work, to stay the course. Changing course is not a reflection of their efforts or the results, but rather, a conclusion I’ve arrived at based on the ever-evolving threat the pandemic presents to our business, our industry, and even our health and our lives. What does this mean for you, our guests? The changes will be small at first, but the gravitational center of our business has changed, and you’ll see that play out over time. While we plan to remain at Park Drive, I don’t know if our dining room will ever reopen.
We’re returning to a menu of prepared foods, designed for you to take home and reheat. Hot food, including Double Awesomes, will be available on a very limited basis -- think Sunday brunch -- or in meal kit form. We’ll continue to teach classes and launch new curriculum for you, your family, friends and coworkers, and our community partners. We’ll still have dumplings, both at Mei Mei and at our new outposts, including a variety of farmer’s markets and Flora’s Wine Bar in West Newton. If all goes well, someday soon, there will be Mei Mei dumplings in your local grocery store, too! It has been a privilege to cook for you over all these years, and we have no intention of stopping that. Food and the connections built around it remain central to our identity. Our mission, also recently revamped, is to cultivate ethical and joyful connections between diners, their food, and the people who produce it. That won’t change. This is not a restaurant, but it’s still Mei Mei. Thank you for your continued love and support as we keep figuring this out.
— Irene