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Tony Montero said he never expected Uchi to do takeout orders, but they'll stick with it even after the restaurant reopens. (Karen Brooks Harper)
If someone had asked Tony Montero two months ago if his restaurant group's award-winning upscale eatery, Uchi Austin, would be serving its sushi dishes to go, he would have said no.
"That's not really us," said Montero, chief executive officer of Hai Hospitality, which operates Uchi restaurants in Austin, Houston, Dallas and Denver.
<p>But Uchi—like nearly 4,000 <a data-linked-post="2645620249" href="https://austonia.com/austin-restaurants-are-waiting-for-federal-relief-will-it-come-in-time" target="_blank">other restaurants in Austin</a>—has had to adapt its epicurean identity after closing in-house dining to suppress the spread of coronavirus. </p><p>Suddenly, the artistry and elegance that helped define owner/chef Tyson Cole's Uchi, which opened in 2003 and has received national acclaim for its cuisine and presentation, was being served up in to-go containers in the parking lot. </p><p>It was a 180-degree turn, surprising in its appeal to fine-dining customers, and particularly for Montero, whose job it is to maintain brand identity as well as experiential quality in the Hai group of seven restaurants.</p><p>But, as Montero said, "the word of the year now is 'pivot.'"</p><p>"We're seeing comments from guests … raving about having this private, intimate Uchi experience in their home, which has been amazing to see," Montero said.</p><p>In addition to the Uchi restaurants, Hai also operates Loro, a more casual Asian smokehouse, as well as Uchiko in Austin and Uchiba in Dallas. Plans to open a Dallas Loro this October are delayed, but still on, he said.Those that didn't serve to-go before will continue even after the crisis passes, he said.</p><p>It's among many changes afoot for the Hai restaurants in this pandemic-era restaurant culture. </p><p>Uchi's menu is now defined by what's available from Texas and the East and West coasts, after restrictions and supply issues shut down daily fish shipments, such as their black snapper, from Japan in March, Montero said.</p><p>"I'd never designed a restaurant that was trying to put in less seating," he said.</p><p>The Uchi restaurants and Loro secured funding through the Paycheck Protection Program, kept much of the staff on full time, and kept all employees on health insurance, Montero said.</p><p>The company is "doing fine," he said, "for now."</p><p>"But it's going to be a battle for everybody," he said, particularly with projections that most people won't dine out in the first few months out of health-related and economic concerns.</p><p>Austin has witnessed <a data-linked-post="2645742784" href="https://austonia.com/magnolia-cafe-to-close-lake-austin-location" target="_blank">iconic</a> <a data-linked-post="2645768403" href="https://austonia.com/Coronavirus/threadgills-lamar-will-close-permanently" target="_blank">restaurants</a> fail due to the shutdown, and the reverberations are felt throughout the restaurateur community, Montero said.</p><p>"It has been incredibly sad to see great places, and someone's life work, suddenly close," he said. </p><p>Predictions by some experts that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/1-in-5-restaurants-could-close-due-to-coronavirus-ubs-2020-4" target="_blank">20% of restaurants </a>may close are worrying, Montero said, but the dining-out culture won't die. </p><p>"There's going to be a vibrant restaurant community on the other side," he said.</p>
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Due to shipping delays, allocations of the Pfizer vaccine scheduled to be distributed in Texas on Monday will now arrive on Tuesday.
<p>The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed the delay in a statement shared with Austonia, explaining that "based on federal shipping schedules, vaccine ordered on Friday and expected to arrive today is now expected to arrive tomorrow, Jan. 19, based on the most current information from Pfizer and our federal partners." The delay impacted 55 of the 263 providers slated to receive vaccine doses this week.<br/></p><p>Eight providers in Travis County were allocated vaccines this week, but only one—UT Health Austin, the clinical arm of Dell Medical School—is impacted by the delayed Pfizer shipments. This is because the remaining seven providers, including Austin Public Health, will receive doses of the Moderna vaccine. </p><p>The city of San Antonio first reported the delays on Sunday, when it tweeted that all appointments planned for Monday would need to be rescheduled for Wednesday due to the delays. Bell County, which is north of Williamson County, encountered <a href="https://www.kwtx.com/2021/01/17/delivery-of-bell-county-covid-19-vaccine-delayed/" target="_blank">similar delays</a>. </p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c63222de857a7fd222b3d4fa89106a58" id="0d111"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1350966510513238018"><div style="margin:1em 0">1/2: The shipment of COVID-19 vaccines to supply scheduled appointments for Mon, Jan 18 has been delayed from the m… https://t.co/bnEWks8zOy</div> — City of San Antonio🧼+👐=💯 (@City of San Antonio🧼+👐=💯)<a href="https://twitter.com/COSAGOV/statuses/1350966510513238018">1610930490.0</a></blockquote></div><p>DSHS will allocate 333,650 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to 260 providers across Texas this week, with the bulk assigned to hub providers focused on widespread community distribution. </p><p>Austin Public Health, which was allocated 12,000 doses, and UT Health Austin, which was allocated 1,950, are the two hub providers in Travis County. An additional six providers were also included in this week's allocation, receiving between 100 and 200 doses apiece. A full list of recipients can be found <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-vaccine-allotments-week-six" target="_blank">here</a>. </p><p><br/></p><p><strong>More on the vaccine:</strong></p>
<h2><a href="https://austonia.com/austin-vaccine-waitlists" target="_self">Updated: Want to be added to a vaccine waitlist? Here's where to sign up</a></h2>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQzNTQ4OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNTkyOTEwNX0.ZI2_-g13hMZWhy_8avZdf2ojt57H1iLNeV8L_3wwiW8/img.jpg?width=980" id="e98ce" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2c52ed40658b69e66c40f1177e26a96a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Updated: Want to be added to a vaccine waitlist? Here's where to sign up
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