It’s a Friday night and the kitchen at the Red Rooster Harlem is bustling but there are far fewer people working at restaurant than there used to be before the pandemic.

What You Need To Know

  • NYC Restaurant Week to Go begins on Monday and organizers hope the event will help restaurants struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic

  • According to unemployment numbers released by the state of New York, restaurants and bars in NYC lost 140,700 jobs in the last year

  • Officials at the NYC Hospitality Alliance told NY1 that he industry lost another 11,700 jobs between November and December 2020 and they attribute that to more permanent restaurant closures, the state shutting down indoor dining for a second time, and fewer people eating outside in winter temperatures

Red Rooster Harlem chef Kingsley John told NY1 that one year ago they had about 50 employees but now they have no where near that.

“We have barely 10. I have 3 cooks where I would have 23 cooks,” said John.

John credits the restaurant’s owners, including celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson,with keeping the Red Rooster open and trying to keep as many workers as they could on the job.

“We lose $10,000 every week but the owners and the chef are willing to keep putting money in to keep the restaurant open,” John said.

Unemployment numbers released by the state on Thursday show that New York City’s restaurant industry is at a breaking point.

Industry officials have linked the most recent decline, in part, to more restaurants closing for good.

“In the last year, we’ve lost more than 140,000 jobs. Since indoor dining was shut down for the 2nd time back in December, we’ve shed about 11,000 more jobs,” said Andrew Rigie of the NYC Hospitality Alliance.

John hopes the return of NYC Restaurant Week, which starts Monday, will help their bottom line but he has some reservations.

Organizers of the event, NYC & Company said there’s record participation this year.

Currently, there are almost 600 restaurants on the roster.

Their previous record was less than 400 participants.

“We decided this year to waive the participation fee...It was $2,800 dollars for a Manhattan restaurant to participate and be part of both the winter and summer iteration,” said Chris Haywood, Executive VP Global Communications at NYC & Company.

Sylvia’s, also in Harlem, and Red Rooster will both be taking part in Restaurant Week.

This year the event has been revamped amid the pandemic and renamed “Restaurant Week to Go”.

While it may not save the industry, the CEO of Sylvia’s said it can’t hurt and will hopefully bring in some extra income.

“Everything during this time really helps it keeps the restaurant in focus and in people’s mind and they get a deal,” said Kenneth Woods, President and CEO of Sylvia’s.

For lunch or dinner participating will be offering their best for $20.21 between January 25-31.