It’s a bit of a double-edged sword these days, this question of whether or not to resume dining out. You may be raring to go or you may be more reticent, but without our continued support in one form or another, small and independent restaurants will wither on the vine.

In an article for Maclean’s, author and owner of Toronto’s Amy Rosen makes her case for getting out of our comfort zones and reacquainting ourselves with the dine-out experience.

“I would argue that dining out is as important to a city’s culture and heritage as its galleries, arenas and museums. They are also part of our collective memories: the big birthday dinners, the bended-knee dessert engagements,” she writes.

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There’s the rub in this whole COVID-19 debacle — we’re not only talking about the very survival of small and independent restaurants, but the trickle-down effect that closures will have on the suppliers, farmers, foragers and delivery people who keep the products moving.

Restaurants and other foodservice industry businesses are the fourth-largest purveyor of private-sector jobs and the number one source of first jobs for Canadians. Those restaurants indirectly support more than 290,000 jobs and typically spend more than $30B per year on food and beverage purchases, representing a critical link in the chain for Canadian suppliers and those in the agri-food sector.

According to Restaurants Canada, our country’s foodservice sector was previously a $93B industry that served 22 million customers every day. However, the industry lost more than 800,000 jobs by April and is on track to lose as much as $44.8B in annual sales compared to 2019 due to the pandemic.

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As much as we love to be the bearer of good news, there is a stark reality facing the hospitality and foodservice industry thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic — with razor-thin margins, new constraints on occupancy limits and the added cost of PPE, many small and independent businesses simply will not recover.

As if to illustrate this, the acclaimed Yorkville destination known as Brothers Food & Wine announced yesterday that they have ‘with heavy hearts’ decided to close the doors and that this coming Saturday will be its final service.

The restaurant, which was ranked No. 29 on the 2018 compilation of Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants — the first of three consecutive mentions on the prestigious annual list — went on to thank its staff and loyal patrons before ending the bittersweet missive on an optimistic note.