Restaurants around New York City are grappling with recent power outages, dealing with financial fallout from lost product, revenue, and equipment.
Hell’s Kitchen Thai favorite Pure Thai Cookhouse has been closed by the Department of Health after its walk-in refrigerator could not reach cold-enough temperatures following the blackout. Owners David and Vanida Bank are out of the country, and they are the only ones who can get approval to reopen — calling the whole situation “a mess.”
A DOH inspection on July 16 shows that violations are all related to food not being held at proper temperatures. The Banks say they have addressed the problem, but that they cannot get approval to reopen without being physically present, so they’re trying to get a power of attorney to do it. They hope to be open today or Wednesday.
Pure Thai wasn’t the only restaurant to be negatively affected by power outages, which happened in Midtown on July 13 and then in Brooklyn and Queens over the weekend due to the heat wave.
Seafood destination Gloria was “severely affected” by the outage earlier this month, owner Phil Johnson told Eater in an email. Sales were down 50 percent for an average Saturday, which is normally the restaurant’s busiest night of the week — a “financially devastating” effect, Johnson says.
Xi’an Famous Foods had to close its 54th Street location, moving all its food to its commissary kitchen to keep it cold, and Olympic Flame Diner’s refrigerator got fried and had to be replaced, which cost over $5,000.
In Brooklyn, thousands were without power last weekend, including businesses. A Carvel in Marine Park was reportedly told by ConEd that its situation “wasn’t a high priority,” while Aliota’s Pastry Shop received just two bags of dry ice from the electricity provider to help alleviate issues.
But restaurants also made the most of the situation. The Rib Shack in Queens handed out free meals, while Empanada Mama in Hell’s Kitchen set up a table outside to sell already cooked product. Johnson says that the mood at Gloria that night, while stressful, was “communal,” and that he made some new regulars that night who will “surely return.”
The Manhattan blackout hit Midtown West and the lower Upper West Side for several hours on the evening of July 13, with 73,000 New Yorkers affected. In Brooklyn, power was expected to return early Tuesday.