How COVID Is Destroying the Restaurant Industry

(Matt) So fermentation is one
of your big passions, right?

(Will) Yeah absolutely,
that's a big part of what we do

(Will) Overall, there's a lot of
space and things going on here,

but we're going to be doing
a little root vegetable

mix served like a Hokkien type of thing,
but really my own sort of combination

We're going to throw in a little bit of
salt and, unlike a proper,

like a lactic fermentation

We really don't need a huge amount of salt
you want to give a little bit of a mix

And then simultaneously as you do that,
we got this lovely little

golden bear honey, that we're going to
throw into too for, uh, sweetness

We're also going to throw in here,
a good amount of uh, cumin.

This is a mix, I just made it here in the
kitchen, of anchoes and chipotle,

just regular, uh, ground cinnamon,
nutmeg, and some fresh lemon

(Matt) I'm already smelling this, kind of
Mexican flavour profile

(Will) Uh why don't you give that a taste
and see where we're at?

(Will) How we doing chef, we alright?
Starting to skip

(Matt) It's incredible
(Audible Laughs in the background)

(Matt) Fermentation is one of the more
enigmatic processes in any chef's

bag of tricks, it's not quite baking,
nor is it cooking, but the unique

alchemy achieved by coaxing the natural
natural processes of decay and

transformation, can produce indescribably
wonderful results.

Mastering the basics may be easy, but
achieving something memorable

let alone repeatable, isn't.

It's a lot like opening a good restaurant;
by some combination of vision,

serendipity, and faith, something magical
happens, like Ducks eatery

(Julie) "Good afternoon, Ducks eatery".
(Matt) Brother and Sister, Will and

Julie Horowitz, have been running this
East village eatery since 2012

In restaurant years, that's an eternity
for a charming gem of a neighbourhood

place like this.

But like thousands of restaurants across
NYC and the Country, Ducks had to

announce that it was shutting down for
good.

COVID-19 has been brutal for the
restaurant industry. As winter approaches,

the prospect of mass closures is a
near inevitability.

Absent and over-night influx of
government support, band aid fixes

like out-door dining and partial capacity
seating, offer little hope.

(Julie) "You take care, bye"

"And in a fun spin, our diners
drive and dives, episode is aired"

"Son of a b*tch"

(Matt) "So take me through the next 48
hours, this is it right, this is the

last hurrah"
(Julie) "This is it!"

(Matt) "What are you guys doing tonight?"
(Julie) "So tonight is our last brisket night,

something that we started, way
back in the day, nice and overbooked for

it, it is super-complicated to navigate
during the pandemic, um but really

touching, I mean people have
come out of the wood work,

it's really, it's pretty amazing"
(Julie) "We opened about four months

before Hurricane Sandy hit, so we're sort
of bookending our experience with uh

major major events, um which kind
of feels right".

(Matt) "Looking back on these past few
months, do you point the finger at anyone

specifically?" (Julie) "I mean this is
just a huge, huge loss, um and no if

I had it my way, the money that went
to the airline bailouts, you know would

be distributed more evenly.
(Light funk starts playing)

(Matt) "So tell me a little bit more
about ducks, like what differentiates

you guys like, what have you set out
to do with this restaurant?"

(Will) *chuckles "So I think the
biggest thing that differentiates us

from other restaurants is that
we didn't set out to do anything".

(Will) "I think we spent so long trying to
piece together the funds and everything

and screws and nails and wood to
build this place that I think, if

I remember, like the night before we opened
me and my other chef kind of freaked out

because we forgot to make the menu".
(Will) "You know when we first started

smoking briskets in here and winning
awards, we were sleeping on the tables

just um, you know, so we could be closer to
that process and make sure we didn't

f*ck anything up". (Will) "We were going
through our farmers and butchers

saying 'Ok, what do you have extra?
what can't you use anymore?

what's garbage right now?'" "Give it to
us, let's figure out how to make it

into something delicious by looking
at these ideas back in time, like smoking

slow cooking and aging. That's sort of
the beauty of these old techniques and you

know we did it like over and over again,
in our restaurant. People thought we were

being like really creative and you know
artsy and sh*t, but the truth is

we were survivalists". (Matt) "I want
to talk about the pandemic a little bit"

(Will) "The places that you see here that
are busy, they're still losing thousands

and thousands of dollars a month, like
it's just a show, it's not for real, there's

very few people that are coming out of
this thing unhinged".

(Matt) "Are you angry?" (Will) "Yeah I'm
pretty pissed off, I think from like

bottom to the top, our leadership has failed
us. You know there's been

nothing for us, you know, and right now
we're all looking at the end of the barrel

down cold winter most likely. Everyone's
PPP money has, you know, dried up".

(Will) "And you know there's really no way
coming out of that".

(Will) "What we're looking at is something
far worse than that because, we're looking

at you know the hundred year old places
and mom and pop places, shutting down

and that wasn't an issue in 2008".
(Phone starts ringing)

"Let me get this".
"Hi this is Ducks eatery".

"Yeah what country are you calling from
ah wow that really means a lot to me

I really appreciate that a lot.
(Will continues) My name is Will

Horowitz, I'm the chef".
(chuckles lightly)

"Um I have to get back in the Kitchen
we're smoking brisket for the last time

tonight, but I really really appreciate
you calling from Italy and um

I appreciate everything you've said and
how special it was to you"

"Have a good day and stay safe, ok?",
"Bye".

(Chuckles lightly) "That was amazing
was trying to see if I could speaker

phone that, I swear someone was on the
other line, um " (everyone chuckles)

(Door clanging noises)
(Will) "Wow"

(Matt) "You can see these guys,
we have like really, kind of

like a perfect bark going on to
these".

(Matt, narrating) Tonight marks the end
of a chapter for the extended family

that has come to call "Ducks home"
but for the time being, any bitter sweet

feelings have to wait, the kitchen was
starting to get busy and folks were

starting to arrive. (Matt, continues)
Outside, it was beginning to feel like so

many of the NYC restaurants have come
to love and cherish over the years.

"Tonight was the last night they were
doing they're brisket special, so I knew today

(Woman continues)
was the end all, be all"

(Another woman) "Duck's eatery is family
for me, it's my life,

it's my home,
it's everything, all my memories here are

special, I got engaged here, I fell in
love with my person here".

(Man) "It really built a culture
on this street, um I've stopped in

here I think every month since
they've been open, and I love you guys

and I'm here for you as always
onto the next thing".