FOOD & DR INK
“People like the fact we are independent” throughout August. “The main challenges now,” explains Mark, “are the lack of passer-by trade, having to make do with lower staff numbers and the general air of uncertainty about the future. “Our business model right now is just reacting to the new rules and keeping it tight. We’re open five days a week at the moment, and only in the evenings. We’re reacting to what’s going on and being flexible the whole time: whatever’s in front of us we’re trying to deal with. The issue we have is that we can’t risk opening more hours at the moment unless we know we can do more business, so we’re just trying to see what happens. “There’s a lot of things that people don’t always understand or see. People come to a restaurant to have a lovely time, and we try to give them that. Everyone is coming in expecting the same and we’re giving them it – the same service, the same
very happy with the way the restaurant’s going,” says Mark. “I think because we’re an independent restaurant and we’re quite hands-on, we get to know lots of people and there’s a nice vibe. “Logistically it’s very hard for us, and that’s the bottom line,” he concludes. “But we’ve had great support from the community, and people have come back loads. I think people like the fact we are independent, and I think they have supported us as much as they can during this difficult period. We’re really lucky and really appreciative of that, so thank you.”
quality, but behind the scenes it’s much harder,” he continues. “You don’t have many staff and you also can’t make plans like you did before. If someone’s away, they’re away, you can’t just find someone tomorrow because people aren’t moving around; they’re not even out. It’s so hard even to do the rota every week.” Despite these issues, the team is delighted to be back at the helm and doing what they love, spurred on by the support of Mercado’s loyal fans. “We’re starting to get a feel for it now. We’re getting good bookings and we’re
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